FANCY A HEMP BURGER? BE CAREFUL, REPORT WARNS

Health Canada Study Says THC Poses Health Risk

Ottawa -- New food products and cosmetics made from hemp -- the marijuana
plant -- pose an unacceptable risk to the health of consumers, a report
prepared for Health Canada says.

Hemp oil and seeds are available in some specialty stores, and Canadians
can order hemp pasta, burgers, cheese and even beer over the Internet. The
Body Shop sells lip balm and other products made with hemp, which is legal
when it has been bred to be low in delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,
the active ingredient in marijuana that makes people high.

The risk assessment done for Health Canada says hemp products may not be
safe because even small amounts of THC may cause developmental problems.
Those most at risk, the study says, are children exposed in the womb or
through breast milk, or teenagers whose reproductive systems are developing.

Hazards associated with exposure to THC include acute neurological effects
and long-term effects on brain development, the reproductive system and the
immune system, the study says. "Over all, the data considered for this
assessment support the conclusion that inadequate margins of safety exist
between potential exposure and adverse effect levels for cannabinoids [the
active ingredients] in cosmetics, food and nutraceutical products made from
hemp."

The study reviewed the results of existing tests on lab animals. It was
obtained for The Globe and Mail by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, and has not
yet been reviewed by other scientists to make sure its conclusions are
valid. Hemp producers say it is alarmist and speculative.

"It refers only to historical data and cites theoretical assumptions,
rather than reporting the findings of actual product tests," says a
statement released by the Body Shop, which says its hemp products are safe.

If the study stands up to scrutiny, Health Canada may require warning
labels or new regulations that could stop some products from being sold,
said Rod Raphael, director-general of the environmental-health program. He
said the department is considering new animal studies to look at the
effects of low-level exposure to THC over several generations.

"We are concerned," Mr. Raphael said, explaining that is why Health Canada
ordered the risk assessment and is considering financing more research.
But, he said, very few Canadians use or eat hemp products.

It became legal to grow hemp -- Cannabis sativa -- in Canada in March,
1998. Producers need a special permit, and federal regulations require that
to qualify as industrial hemp, cannabis plants contain less than 0.3 per
cent THC.

Hemp growers say it is ridiculous to think it may pose a health threat.

"It is like saying you can't eat poppy-seed bagels, because poppy seeds
have a minute amount of the active ingredient in heroin," said John Roulac,
a board member of the North American Industrial Hemp Council, which
represents growers in Canada and the United States.

Mr. Roulac said the study didn't look at the positive health benefits hemp
products offer in terms of an improved diet, nor does it mention that in
Japan and China, people have eaten hemp products for hundreds of years with
no ill effects.

Paul Wilkes, a head of regulatory affairs for the Body Shop, said the
company reviewed the same literature as the Health Canada study and came to
very different conclusions. "We consider our products to be perfectly safe."

The Body Shop also issued a written statement, saying the report produced
for Health Canada makes "unsubstantiated" and "speculative claims."

"The Body Shop has worked with Health Canada on product testing and has
reassured itself through detailed research, extensive testing and the
advice of leading dermatologists and toxicologists that the company's
industrial hemp-based products pose no risk to the health and safety of
consumers. The Body Shop therefore stands by its hemp-based products."

The Body Shop does not do animal testing, and could not do its own
experiments on low-level exposure over several generations, Mr. Wilkes said.

Mr. Raphael said Health Canada looked at the research done by the Body Shop
and decided more was needed.

Many of the animal studies that have been done look at exposure to high
levels of THC. They found long-term effects to offspring who were exposed
to THC in the womb. Permanent effects included reduced sensitivity to
morphine and reduced copulatory behaviour in males as well as abnormal
estrus in women.

"The potential for these effects to occur is of great concern, since THC
has been found to cross the placenta and to appear in the fetal brain
within minutes of a maternal exposure."

Mr. Raphael said the internal and external peer reviews of the study should
be finished by September. Until then, he said, Health Canada is not
justified in issuing any warnings to consumers.

EDIBLE HEMP Hemp products listed in the Health Canada study on hemp foods:

Hemp-seed oil

Bread

Cookies

Pancakes

Hemp-seed porridge

Frozen dessert (hempscream)

Pasta

Burgers

Pizza

Salt substitute

Brownies

Hemp fruit crumble

Salad dressings

Hemp-oil mayonnaise

Hemp cheese

Hemp yogurt

Butter substitute

Hemp milk drinks

Nuts and seeds

Hemp-seed pad Thai

Lemonade

Beer

Wine

Coffee

Hemp nog