Question:
Welcome back Lars
White House Watch: THC madness
The drug war blunders on: The DEA is cracking down on hempseed oil in tortilla chips
Sunday, December 09, 2001
By Ann McFeatters
WASHINGTON - And now, for something completely different, to borrow a phrase from Monty Python.
The three earnest young men burdened with plastic bags came to the office bearing food. Pretzels with seeds. A snack bar. An energy bar. Tortilla chips.
Ann McFeatters is National Bureau chief for the Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio. Her e-mail address is amcfeatters@
nationalpress.com.
Never mind the caloric sin. We're talking serious evil here.
Or so the government says.
Unless you are an avid reader of the Federal Register and perused the tiny print of almost undecipherable bureaucratese on pages 51,539 through 51,544, you might have missed it -- but the government has returned to normal.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Asa Hutchinson, the former GOP congressman from Arkansas, has announced rules to ban certain brands of a wide variety of foods -- "beer, cheese, coffee, corn chips, energy drink, flour, ice cream, snack bars, salad oil, soda and veggie burgers" -- if they contain trace amounts of THC.
THC, as those who came to the age of majority in the 1960s know well, is tetrahydrocannabinols. As DEA succinctly explains: "That's the hallucinogenic substance in marijuana that causes the psychoactive effect or high."
The THC found in certain brands of the above-mentioned food comes from hempseeds and hempseed oil, popular with some so-called "natural food" manufacturers because they are high in protein and serve as a fatty acid supplement -- "good fats" that doctors like. But DEA says such foods are now controlled substances illegal for everyone.
Makers of foods with hempseeds or oil, with $5 million in annual sales, argue that the amount of THC is so infinitesimal that inhumanly high consumption of them would be required to get high. They liken it to getting a buzz from eating the opiate-containing poppy seeds on bagels or the alcohol in orange juice.
But the Controlled Substances Act says that any consumption of THC is forbidden. And any food that contains it is no longer to be sold, distributed or eaten.
Says the DEA: "If you wish to err on the side of caution, you may freely dispose of the product. As stated in the rules that DEA published on Oct. 9, 2001, anyone who has purchased a food or beverage product that contains THC has 120 days (until Feb. 6, 2002) to dispose of the product without penalty under federal law."
After Feb. 6, it will be illegal to sell or import any hemp-containing foods.
The DEA, in its wisdom, notes that bird seed with cannabis seeds, clothing such as hats, shirt and shoes, cosmetics, lotion, paper, rope, twine and, yes, shampoo and soap, which also can contain hemp, are not illegal. "Based on the information currently available, DEA believes that [such products] do not cause THC to enter the human body and are therefore legal."
Confronted with the thought that the government's investing time, money and energy in such a campaign during a time of war is, possibly, ridiculous, Hutchinson says, "Many Americans do not know that hemp and marijuana are both parts of the same plant and that hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana."
Not surprisingly, supporters of food with hempseed oil have gone to court, beseeching the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the DEA rule. DEA says it is permitted to issue the ban on THC-laced products without a formal rule-making procedure although the public may comment until Dec. 10. "It's like the judge announcing the verdict before the trial," complained John Young, a lawyer for the hemp-food lawsuit, to the National Law Journal.
Groups which are applauding the DEA's action, such as the conservative Family Research Council, say food with hempseeds sends a pro-drug message to children and is camouflage for a campaign to legalize marijuana.
The other day, confronted by a man in Florida who said the government was not responding to his needs, President Bush muttered, "I can't stand bureaucracy."
Bush remembered the cameras were rolling and said that he appreciated "the hard-working people who care enough to work for the government. But what I don't like is systems that get so cumbersome that those who are trying to help you don't get the product out."
In the course of writing this, I have munched on the 120-calorie corn chips, the 220-calorie pretzels and devoured the 170-calorie snack bar. In truth, I feel nothing but my waistband.
And a curious desire to watch "Monty Python's Flying Circus."


Answer:

When it is said, "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help", be afraid, very, very afraid!
Monty
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Today is always a new begining ... tomorrow is too late!

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Well for once B Calm did a cut-n-past that was interesting!
Monty posted:
When it is said, "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help", be afraid, very, very afraid!
Yeah, what he said!
*********
Indiana RoadRunner competent that he does not suffer from incompetence. There has been times that I have been told that I'm an incompetent person, but I am confident that actually the accuser is actually the incompetent one. I am confident that the world suffers from too many incompetent people. Actually, I am confident that incompetence is running amuck! The next war should be against the incompetence of the incompetent people.

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LOL, now we know where your phsychotic thinking comes from.
i see no need for pot in food smoking pot or any other use of it. why is it that democrats want to legalize pot and ban ciggaretes? pot contains about 500 times more carcinogens than tobacco.
what happened to the eggs are bad for you campain? turns out the cholestoral in eggs is good for you and not the bad stuff they claimed for 10 years. it is true many people over the age of 80 are going to die from eating beef & eggs or is it the poppy seeds killing them?
I did do some reading on one of bcalms sites was not sure if it was a comic strip or what? one interesting thing was the American beef producers cows are infected with aids LOL, I want to know how this could be possible? my cows and bulls practice a sort of polygamy deal about 1 bull for 25 cows as far as i know they are not into somekind of swinging worldwide sex organization. also mcdonalds supposedly assasinated some guy in the rain forest to take his land & raise cattle, LOL go to any sale barn in the country ask around & them guys can tell who buys mcdonalds beef & the quality of beef they buy, it is not great but you dont need prime beef to make hamburger. anyhow if you dont eat something your backside might grow shut then your going to be in big trouble.

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Actually, I don't hear of too many Democrats OR Republicans who want to legalize pot. That position is usually taken by Libertarians - such as myself, but not for the reasons that you might believe.
Libertarians oppose the "Drug War" because it costs more money and lives than it 'saves'. It also acts as a de facto price support system for narcotics traffickers. Those who carefully and diligently study the issue find that any war on drugs will have the same dismal success as the war on poverty, the Social Security scam and illogical 'gun control' schemes that are supposed to reduce violent crime by disarming law-abiding citizens.
As for your statement that Democrats want to ban tobacco, I think you are in the right church but sitting in the wrong pew. They dislike the substance, but have grown addicted to the tax revenue it provides. They'd never ban it, but really want to control it heavily, tax it to the hilt and spend the money on their favorite pet projects.
Flying Dutchman; does not smoke anything - but would not prohibit you from doing so
I don't seek a perfect society -- just one that is better and more free.

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Since there is no apparent logic to banning a substance that has scientifically proven therapuetic effects, and is so recognized in almost every other country outside the USA, the real target, it seems, is hemp.
And that is easier to understand than legalizing poison and banning medicine.
The utilization of Hemp would put the petro-chemical industry out of business. Guess who would have an interest in demonizing hemp????
On the lighter side I liked that exchange between Boopsie and Zonker in the DOONESBURY strip the other day.
That..."The government cares", is "A gateway message" according to John Ashcroft.

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Mr. Hutchingson, a cultural warrior in good standing with his troops, is merely showing to what ridiculous ends that crowd will go.
I do have some serious doubts about hemp growing replacing refineries. But there are a multitude of useful products that could be marketed well from it.
But to make the right choices about the inane War on Drugs, is probably not on the horizon. It would require a sea change in the body politic. One that I think will one day come. And the War on Terrorism may soon force it.
Lars; eyeing large bamboo....
Exec. Dir. of BBRP

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Hey, we agree on something.
Stranger things have happened, I suppose. You are onto something with regard to hemp and its attributes. I think there is even a web site that is totally devoted to the virtues of hemp and how it can 'save the planet' from extinction.
Flying Dutchman; don't smoke it myself, but would not care if you grew it
I don't seek a perfect society -- just one that is better and more free.

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I am a Republican who favor legalizing pot, FD.
As you know, I am a libertarian (small"l") in thought.

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i knew there was something wrong with your thinking. hemp was grown on farms here in the USA up until i think world war2 was used to make rope mostly. have heard if the government can figure out how to tax it they will legalize it. i chew tobacco consume to much alcahol sometimes but cant name 1 good thing that comes from either. maybe im biased or dont have a big enough research base but every pot smoker i know complains about being unemployed and are the laziest people i ever met. wether they legalize it or not i dont care but i do think its one habit USA does not need.

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I suspect that you "don't have a big enough research base" 37.9. I think pot smokers would avoid you like the plague.
However since, in this medium, I don't have to sit across from you, smelling your beer breath and watching the tobacco juice drool out of your mouth, while you're trying to put together a coherent sentence, I have to acknowledge that your point about taxation was unusually relevant.
I'm sure your corporate masters are at a complete loss to justify a tax on a renewable energy source that doesn't pollute the planet.

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I have to laugh about the idea that marijuana and hemp are one and the same. They are the same family, but marijuana is raised for its THC content, hemp is raised for other things only.
Back in the 60's, around Chanute AFB (now JB Hunt, I believe) in Illinois, were the remnants of WW II hemp farms. Replaced by corn and soybeans, the hemp plants still flourished in fencerows. Enterprising "freaks" from U of I would harvest the "Rantoul Rag" as it was known, and try to smoke it! You might as well try to get drunk on O'Doul's as to get high on hemp!! LOL! A bit ill, maybe, but not high!
What the DEA is probably doing is launching a sneaky attack on the "natural" foods industry, which it and the FDA and USDA all despise. Unless GMO hemp would prove profitable to ADM or Monsanto, the USDA will never accept it as a cash crop in the US.
As to pot-smokers and unemployment, where I live, I see plenty of habitually unemployed drunks who chew. People who think so little of themselves that they abuse any substance are not likely to be highly sought after in the job market.
In any case, happy and prosperous new year to everyone!
Mrs. GB

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LOL, if i was to sit across from you i would probably just use your coffee cup as a spitoon, and yes them unemployed pot heads avoid me because i always offer them a job. maybe i have ralled up a few dope heads or food addicts here? ms gertrude