News (Media Awareness Project) - Kenex Seed Seized At U.S. Border |
| Title: | Kenex Seed Seized At U.S. Border |
| Published On: | 1999-10-05 |
| Source: | Ottawa Citizen (Canada) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-05 18:29:28 |
KENEX SEED SEIZED AT U.S. BORDER
Hemp Grower Plans To Take Battle To Court
A Canadian Goose couldnt get high on the stuff but 20 tons of Ontario
birdseed has been confiscated at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing as
part of the U.S. war on drugs.
The truckload of bird feed, which is sterilized seeds processed from
industrial hemp, has been sitting in a Detroit warehouse since early August
after the U.S. Customs Service swooped down on it at the border.
Its very silly. They are telling us that this a truck full of marijuana
when in fact a bag couldnt get a buzz from the seed, said Jean Laprise
from this Chatham-area farm on Monday.
Laprise says instead of enforcing the law, the U.S. drug officials are
making it up because American legislation clearly exempts sterilized hemp
seed from its list of controlled substances.
He estimates the value of the birdseed at $35,000 and says he is now being
threatened with fines of about $500,000 if he doesnt recall already
shipped products.
Laprise, the owner of Kenex Ltd., is caught in what the New York Times
calls one of the most bizarre episodes of Washingtons campaign to curb
illicit drug use. Hemp and marijuana are different types of Cannabis
sativa but the U.S. government rarely recognizes the distinctions when it
comes to that particular plant species.
It has been over a year since the Canadian government declared hemp a
legitimate crop.
The birdseed seizure is the first time the legislation change in Canada has
run afoul of American drug laws.
While smoking marijuana will lead to a noticeable high, smoking hemp will
have no psychoactive effect. The psychoactive component of marijuana,
known as THC for tetrahydrocannabinol, usually varies between five and 20
per cent of a leaf.
The only mind-altering threat posed by the birdseed sitting in Detroit,
which has a THC content of 0.0014 per cent, comes from trying to imagine
how minuscule its psychoactive component is to its consumer. Fourteen
parts per million THC would hardly make a bird chirp, let alone reach a
higher altitude.
Rogene Waite, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, said her
countrys controlled substance act defines hemp as marijuana.
She released a statement from the agency which said that U.S. agencies
have become aware that sterilized cannabis seed has been imported in the
U.S. for use in food products for human consumption.
Furthermore, some of that seed, and products made from the seed, may be
contaminated with THC. The agencys position is that any product
containing any amount of THC can only be imported into the U.S. by a
company that is appropriately registered with DEA.
John Roulac, the president of Nutiva, a California company which has been
supplied by Kenex, called the confiscation crazy.
When there are real criminals running around, I guess we have to stay
focused on people who are obeying the law, said Roulac. The reality is
that they are allowing shipments of hemp from France and Germany right into
the U.S.
He termed the minute amount of THC found in 40,000 pounds of birdseed like
an olive pit in a railroad car.
Roulac says the publicity about the seizure has outraged Kenexs U.S.
customers, who are buying its hemp seeds and fibres for food and beauty
products. He says he has sold 100,000 hemp bars in the past five months
and drug enforcement officers are trying to shut down the market.
In California, this is being laughed at. Kenex is the largest, most
successful hemp processor in Canada. They are about as far away as you can
get from a drug dealer. I mean give me a break, said Roulac.
He explained that the small amount of THC detected in the seed comes from
unavoidable contact with leaves of the hemp plant.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Rose-Marie Ur echoed Roulacs comments, calling
Kenex a very above-board company. She said the U.S. officials were
making a mountain out of a molehill and the confiscation is absolutely
ridiculous.
She supports the companys intentions to challenge in court under the North
American Free Trade Agreement the DEAs interpretation of its drug laws.
Hemp Grower Plans To Take Battle To Court
A Canadian Goose couldnt get high on the stuff but 20 tons of Ontario
birdseed has been confiscated at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing as
part of the U.S. war on drugs.
The truckload of bird feed, which is sterilized seeds processed from
industrial hemp, has been sitting in a Detroit warehouse since early August
after the U.S. Customs Service swooped down on it at the border.
Its very silly. They are telling us that this a truck full of marijuana
when in fact a bag couldnt get a buzz from the seed, said Jean Laprise
from this Chatham-area farm on Monday.
Laprise says instead of enforcing the law, the U.S. drug officials are
making it up because American legislation clearly exempts sterilized hemp
seed from its list of controlled substances.
He estimates the value of the birdseed at $35,000 and says he is now being
threatened with fines of about $500,000 if he doesnt recall already
shipped products.
Laprise, the owner of Kenex Ltd., is caught in what the New York Times
calls one of the most bizarre episodes of Washingtons campaign to curb
illicit drug use. Hemp and marijuana are different types of Cannabis
sativa but the U.S. government rarely recognizes the distinctions when it
comes to that particular plant species.
It has been over a year since the Canadian government declared hemp a
legitimate crop.
The birdseed seizure is the first time the legislation change in Canada has
run afoul of American drug laws.
While smoking marijuana will lead to a noticeable high, smoking hemp will
have no psychoactive effect. The psychoactive component of marijuana,
known as THC for tetrahydrocannabinol, usually varies between five and 20
per cent of a leaf.
The only mind-altering threat posed by the birdseed sitting in Detroit,
which has a THC content of 0.0014 per cent, comes from trying to imagine
how minuscule its psychoactive component is to its consumer. Fourteen
parts per million THC would hardly make a bird chirp, let alone reach a
higher altitude.
Rogene Waite, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, said her
countrys controlled substance act defines hemp as marijuana.
She released a statement from the agency which said that U.S. agencies
have become aware that sterilized cannabis seed has been imported in the
U.S. for use in food products for human consumption.
Furthermore, some of that seed, and products made from the seed, may be
contaminated with THC. The agencys position is that any product
containing any amount of THC can only be imported into the U.S. by a
company that is appropriately registered with DEA.
John Roulac, the president of Nutiva, a California company which has been
supplied by Kenex, called the confiscation crazy.
When there are real criminals running around, I guess we have to stay
focused on people who are obeying the law, said Roulac. The reality is
that they are allowing shipments of hemp from France and Germany right into
the U.S.
He termed the minute amount of THC found in 40,000 pounds of birdseed like
an olive pit in a railroad car.
Roulac says the publicity about the seizure has outraged Kenexs U.S.
customers, who are buying its hemp seeds and fibres for food and beauty
products. He says he has sold 100,000 hemp bars in the past five months
and drug enforcement officers are trying to shut down the market.
In California, this is being laughed at. Kenex is the largest, most
successful hemp processor in Canada. They are about as far away as you can
get from a drug dealer. I mean give me a break, said Roulac.
He explained that the small amount of THC detected in the seed comes from
unavoidable contact with leaves of the hemp plant.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Rose-Marie Ur echoed Roulacs comments, calling
Kenex a very above-board company. She said the U.S. officials were
making a mountain out of a molehill and the confiscation is absolutely
ridiculous.
She supports the companys intentions to challenge in court under the North
American Free Trade Agreement the DEAs interpretation of its drug laws.
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