Hemp Industries Association Crows Over Beating DEA In Birdseed War. DEA Eats Crow.
HIA
NEWSWIRE
A Service of the Hemp Industries Association
For Immediate Release
November 18, 1999
Hemp Industries Association Succeeds in Pressuring DEA to Release Captive Birdseed
Pain Court, Ontario. In a major victory for the hemp industry, the DEA has backed-off from
its demand to recall Canadian hemp seed products and has instructed US Customs agents to
allow shipments of seed products containing trace amounts of THC to freely enter the
United States. Since THC is considered a Controlled Substance, the agency took a hard line
on hemp seed products containing as low as 14 parts per million THC.
The deal, brokered on November 4th by the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC, resolved US
Customs August 9th seizure of a load of hemp grain originating from Kenex farms in
Southern Ontario, and DEA's demand that Kenex recall 17 loads of previously shipped hemp
seed under the threat of penalty.
Kenex owner, Jean Laprise called the agreement a guarded win. "An issue has been
resolved for the entire industry," he said. "Getting the Canadian government
involved was a major factor. DEA didn't suspect we had so many
friends in politics and the industry."
The Hemp Industries Association played a major role in lobbying congressional
representatives, launching an informational website, and by alerting the media to the
situation. DEA's action posed a threat to the Association's members, many of whom use the
hemp seed for food, body care and pet products.
"We weren't going to let the DEA push Kenex around without a fight because we knew
this was a test case for how DEA approaches hemp in the future," said HIA president
Cindy Biggers. "Sterilized hemp seed is a perfectly legal product and it's time the
DEA accepted that."
Although Kenex recently sent a load of hemp seed to Baltimore, the load seized in August
remains in Detroit under Customs storage. Consequently, Kenex has no idea of the condition
of the seeds nor the environment they are stored in. At this time,
the company has not ruled out the option of suing DEA to recover legal and other expenses.
"We got the Zero Tolerance policy reversed, and basically got
DEA to abide by US law," said Jean Laprise. "We accomplished our goal and
are looking forward to doing a bigger business in the future."
Contact:
Mari Kane, Hemp Industries Association Press Director, Tel: 707-887-7508,
Email: mari@marikane.com, http://www.hemppages.com
Candi Penn, HIA Secretary, Tel: 707-874-3648, Email: info@thehia.org
Websites: http://www.hempembargo.com, http://thehia.org & http://hempstores.com
END
John researches and writes about the past, present and future uses of
cannabis hemp. He is the founder and proprietor of the Boston Hemp Co-op, Museum and
Library. John was the Managing Editor of Hemp Magazine and has had articles published in
Hempworld Magazine, the Journal of the International Hemp Association and Cannabis Canada
(now Cannabis Culture). He is a member of the Hemp Industries Association, the
International Hemp Association, and Mass Cann/NORML. He can be reached at boston.hemp@pobox.com and 781-662-4313.