WHIFFS OF HYPOCRISY IN HEMP PROMOTION

Last week, The Body Shop, the socially progressive cosmetics
franchise, launched a new line of skin care products made with an
industrial grade hemp, the non-mind altering sister herb of marijuana.

Packaged in slick silver tins, the new hemp bath oils, moisturizers
and soaps promise, like most Body Shop products, to soothe the skin
while protecting rain forests, saving endangered species and providing
jobs for oppressed people.

But the new hemp line almost didn't make it on to shelves here. Just
before the launch, Health Canada threatened to raid stores that
carried the products. Health Canada - which is currently studying the
risk of long-term marijuana use - recanted after a visit from The Body
Shop's head chemist, who showed that the products contained less than
the prohibited amounts of THC, the active ingredient in smokeable hemp.

Hemp isn't a new product in the Canadian market. Health food and other
specialty stores have been carrying hemp-based clothing, furniture and
paper goods for the past few years. But recently, a hemp store in
British Columbia came under attack. Officials from The Body Shop say
they've experienced problems stocking the new line in other countries,
too.

What a panic over an herb that proponents call a miracle plant. Anita
Roddick, the hyperbole-prone founder of The Body Shop International,
said at a press conference that hemp ``should win a Nobel Prize.''

There's no denying hemp's value. It's a hardy, naturally
pest-resistant, an excellent rotation crop that's much easier on the
environment than cotton. It can grow in just about any climate and can
be used as fuel or food and in textiles and building materials. In the
past, the plant was widely grown and utilized - as a pro-hemp
activists like to point out, Rembrandt and van Gogh painted on hemp
canvases, the first pair of Levi's were made of hemp cloth and the
Gutenberg Bible was printed on hemp paper in 1455.

What's new about hemp is that it's so hip - it has become a cause
celebre for hippies, environmentalists and liberal yuppies. It's been
made into sneakers by Adidas and BMW is exploring hemp's use in the
dashboards of its cars. There are hemp magazines, websites and
advocacy groups. The plant even has a movie star spokesperson in actor
Woody Harrelson, who work a hemp tuxedo made by designer and supporter
Giorgio Armani to the Academy Awards.

Compared to this, Health Canada and other regulatory bodies look
downright square and regressive in their efforts to ban a plant which
has such Earth-saving potential solely on the grounds that it may
encourage or glamourize drug use.

Health Canada can rest easy - there's little glamour to be had in
hemp. The clothing made from the product is as sexy as sack-cloth. The
skin care products, while effective, stink like a dirty bong. Hemp is
way too granola-wholesome to pose anything of a threat to vulnerable
teens, who are, apparently, just one 100 per cent hemp T-shirt away
from heroin addiction. Reefer madness, this ain't.

Even more annoying, however, than governmental prudishness are many
hemp activists themselves and, in this case in particular, The Body
Shop.

The company's press bumpf is filled with facts about hemp, quotes from
scientists, archival photos of happy hemp farmers and plenty of cheeky
puns: ``Roll yourself in hemp fashions!'' ``High time for changes!''
``Hope not dope!''

The product itself bears the iconic image of the five-fronded
marijuana leaf - the very symbol of the ``legalize it'' movement. And
yet, The Body Shop is quick to distance itself from marijuana the
drug, even going so far as to use an angel image to represent hemp,
and the images of a devil, a criminal and an evil alien to represent
pot.

This is particularly ironic in light of Jim Wakeford's recent failure
in his fight to smoke pot legally to help with his AIDS-related nausea
and loss of appetite. It's certainly a more serious battle than the
right to use hand-cream, and one The Body Shop could have used its
high profile to support, but didn't.

Promoting hemp through hip, drug-related colloquialisms while
reiterating tired old stereotypes about a drug that's less harmful
than alcohol is a cheap and hypocritical position. It's a little like
saying you read Playboy for the articles - or that you never inhaled.

Giese is the features editor of Xtra, Toronto's lesbian and gay
biweekly. E-mail: rachel.giese@xtra.ca

Checked-by: Patrick Henry