HEMP RAID GOES UP IN SMOKE

Body Shop gets late okay for new product launch

A threatened hemp raid on The Body Shop became a bust when it turned out
Health Canada was just blowing smoke.

The ``green'' retailer was preparing to launch a line of hemp oil-based skin
care products Friday morning in when it got an unexpected call.

Despite eight months of testing in co-operation with the Body Shop, Health
Canada suddenly sent out some bad vibes.

The agency threatened to seize any hemp products shipped to stores, said
Margot Franssen, president of Body Shop Canada Ltd.

``Although we are absolutely within the law, (Health Canada) suggested very
strongly that we do not carry on with the product launch,'' Franssen said.

In response, the Body Shop chief chemist tripped on over to Ottawa to plead
the case that industrial hemp is perfectly safe.

The tactic worked and Health Canada did an abrupt about-face yesterday
evening.

``The misunderstanding between Health Canada and the Body Shop has been
cleared up,'' Health Canada spokesperson Steve Jeffery said late yesterday.

``There is nothing preventing the Body Shop from going to market.''

Industrial hemp must have less than 10 micrograms of THC - the active
chemical in marijuana. Health Canada is currently studying the risks of
repeated, long-term use, Jeffery said.

Canadian health stores have already been selling similar hemp oil products
for about three years, including those made by Mississauga-based Hempola
Inc., operations manager Doug Stephenson said.

And relations with Health Canada have been excellent, he said.

``We get an independent lab to test every batch of oil and then we ship them
the results.''

Health Canada officials couldn't explain why the Body Shop was initially
rebuffed when similar products have been on sale for years.

The agency's initial edict put a damper on yesterday's official product
launch in Toronto. The creams, lotions and lip balms were glued to tables to
prevent people from sampling them.

Despite the controversy, Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop
International PLC, flew into town to help celebrate.

She used the brouhaha to chide governments around the world for constantly
vilifying hemp, which unlike its cousin, marijuana, can't get people stoned.

``Is it because the growing low-cost, high-yield, environmentally sound hemp
is challenging the global business interests of loggers, cotton barons and
the agro-chemical industry?''

On top of its environmental virtues, hemp seeds contain essential fatty
acids that work miracles on dry skin, Roddick added.

``It should get, along with aloe vera, the Nobel prize.''

But ignorance seems to rule the day, she said, noting that French police
raided a Body Shop store in August, during the launch there.

The items were eventually returned and the incident may actually have helped
promote sales in France, Roddick said.

Hemp products there account for about 12 per cent of sales, similar to
American numbers.

To prove how versatile hemp is, Roddick is planning to build a Body Shop in
England made entirely of the wonder weed - everything from walls to shelves
to counters.

Canada's 121 Body Shops should be selling the hemp oil products by Thursday,
Franssen said.

Checked-by: Don Beck