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.