LEGAL VICTORY FOR HEMP

Judges Rule Hemp Foods Are Not Subject To DEA Ban

A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Friday that producers
and vendors of hemp foods do not violate marijuana laws.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling overturned a Drug Enforcement
Agency ban on foods containing even trace amounts of THC, the
psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Both hemp and marijuana are
cannabis plants, but hemp produces far less THC.

Boulder natural food stores stopped carrying hemp food products when
the DEA imposed the ban in October 2001.

"Some people were just devastated," said Paul Cervantes, a grocer at
Whole Foods. He said cheese, bread, and ice cream made with hemp seeds
are more healthful than soy products.

The federal court suspended the ban in March 2002 while judges
considered a challenge from the hemp industry. Friday's ruling said
the DEA overstepped its authority.

Kathleen Chippi closed her business, the Boulder Hemp Company, after
being targeted by the DEA.

"When the DEA is telling potential investors it's illegal, they
freaked out and ran away," Chippi said. The DEA began threatening
Chippi and her investors with prison sentences in 1999, two years
before hemp foods were banned, she said.

She said the ruling Friday doesn't encourage her to go back into
business selling Heavenly Hemp tortilla chips, which were once sold
nationwide by King Soopers.

"Until the entire war on the entire plant is over, it's almost pointless,"
Chippi said.

U.S. marijuana laws prohibit cannabis cultivation, so hemp seeds and
fiber are imported. In October 1999, the DEA seized 39,000 pounds of
seeds being shipped from Canada because they contained trace amounts
of THC. The DEA eventually released the shipment under pressure from
the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Friday ruling noted hemp industry claims that it is impossible to
get high from the amount of THC in hemp foods.

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer questioned the ruling. "If the product
contains THC, and is to be consumed by humans, Congress has made it
illegal," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.