HEMP POLICY IS PUT TO THE (TASTE) TEST

Advocates of hemp - basically the stems and seeds of the marijuana plant
that don't get you high - say cookies, energy bars, salad dressings, chips
and other food products laced with hemp oil and hemp seeds are nutritious.

But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says such products, if they
contain even trace amounts of THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, are
illegal under federal drug law, and are part of a class of drugs that
includes heroin and LSD.

A group of Eugene area hemp enthusiasts Tuesday tried to point out what
they view as the fallacy of the federal policy. They set up a card table on
the plaza outside the Federal Building in downtown Eugene and offered snack
bars, blue corn chips and hummus made with hemp seeds and hemp oil to
federal workers leaving for lunch.

They also had poppyseed muffins and organic fruit juice - which contain
trace amounts of opiates and naturally fermented alcohol, respectively, yet
aren't subject to federal drug law.

"No one talks about poppyseed bagels in the same sentence as heroin," said
Gerry Shapiro, owner of Merry Hempsters, a small Eugene business that makes
lip balm with hemp oil.

"If this absurd and silly interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act
is upheld, all this is going to go by the wayside."

The event was billed alternatively as the National DEA Taste Test Challenge
and National Hemp Food Awareness Day. Similar events were staged in about
70 cities across the United States, organizers said.

They follow a new interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act announced
by the DEA in October. Hemp foods that contain any amount of THC are
illegal and may not be sold, manufactured or consumed in the United States,
the DEA said.

The hemp food industry has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to
issue a stay against the DEA's interpretation of how federal drug law
pertains to hemp food products, said Eric Steenstra, president of
Votehemp.com. The site advocates deregulation of industrial hemp.

"We think the DEA's time and resources would be better spent on their
primary mission rather than on something that poses no threat to human
health or anything else," he said.

The American hemp food industry is small, with about $5 million in sales,
said John Roulac, president of California-based Nutiva, which makes hemp
food products. That's about how big the soy foods industry was 30 years
ago, he said.

Rogene Waite, a DEA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the drug agency
simply was trying to clarify federal law for anyone who had questions about
what was legal.

Food products that contain any measurable amount of THC are illegal, she
said. As for poppyseeds, Congress has specifically exempted them from
federal drug law when used in food, she said.

Outside the federal courthouse, some workers declined the offer of hemp
snacks while others gave it a try. Rich Fairbanks, a forester with the U.S.
Forest Service, said he supported what the hemp advocates were doing and
said marijuana should be decriminalized.

"It's a waste of time and money keeping this stuff criminalized," he said.

Hemp activist Todd Dalotto signed a copy of his "Hemp Cookbook" with a
message to the DEA - "May you learn to appreciate cannabis as much as I do"
- - and tried to deliver it to the local DEA office inside the Federal
Building, but was barred by security officers.