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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US CO: Hemp store takes hit from feds
ccguide Friday 21 Jan 2000 Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 Source: Colorado Daily (CO) Copyright: 2000 Colorado Daily Contact: Address: P.O. Box 1719, Boulder, CO 80306 Fax: (303) 443-9357 Website: http://www.codaily.com/ Author: Brian Hansen, Colorodo Daily Staff Writer Cited: Boulder Hemp Company: http://www.hempfoods.com/ See also: http://www.levellers.org/dea/ HEMP STORE TAKES HIT FROM FEDS Owner Blasts Changing DEA Regulations On Products War may be hell, but the "war on drugs" has propelled a Boulder company that sells hemp-based foodstuffs into one hell of a confusing predicament. The confusion pertains to federal laws that regulate the importation of industrial hemp products, which a host of innovative U.S. companies now incorporate into snack foods, ice cream, and other goods. According to Boulder Hemp Company co-owner Kathleen Chippi, the Drug Enforcement Administration has re-written the federal laws - without Congressional involvement or approval - three times within the past five months. "They haven't bothered to notify anybody in the hemp industry, and they're not responding to the business people and the elected officials who are trying to verify what they're doing," Chippi said. "They're just pretty much ignoring everybody." The most recent change to the policy occurred two weeks ago, when the U.S. Customs Agency issued a memorandum which made all sterilized hemp products containing any amount of measurable THC subject to immediate seizure and confiscation. The Jan. 5 memo superseded a policy that had been drafted less than one month earlier, which allowed products containing less than .3 percent THC to be imported legally into the country. THC is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, which, of course, is a controlled substance in the United States. But according to the federal controlled substances act, hemp seeds can be legally imported into the country as long as they are sterilized to prevent growth - no matter how much residual THC they might contain. Chippi, whose company manufactures tortilla chips and a host of other foods containing sterilized hemp seeds, went to her elected officials in Washington, D.C., for help in resolving the perplexing situation. But she said she was more than a little disappointed with the responses she got from Rep. Mark Udall, Sen. Wayne Allard, and especially Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. "All I wanted from them was a letter saying we're not going to have charges pressed against us, and that what we we're doing is legal," Chippi said. "But all that any of them did was to send my name, the name of my company, my address and my phone number to the DEA." And apparently, the DEA took interest in what Chippi's representatives - - especially Campbell - had to say about her. "The DEA did write a letter to Campbell's office, which basically just confirms that they knew who I was and where my business was located, and that they were acting on behalf of the 'American public safety,'" Chippi quipped. Representatives from Campbell's office, who said Wednesday morning that they'd "look into" the situation, did not return phone calls to the Colorado Daily by press time. DEA spokeswoman Rogene Waite, who last October spoke at length with the Daily about federal laws pertaining to the importation of sterilized hemp seed, on Wednesday declined to comment on the new policy. Chippi, meanwhile, this week expressed her exasperation over the situation in a scathing and slightly irreverent letter to Campbell, whom she'd flew to Washington to consult with last October. "Is it your job to help citizens like me when they have a problem with a federal agency?" Chippi wrote. "Do I have to pay you cash? Will I get a receipt?" But Chippi, who left samples of her company's products with Campbell's staff, didn't stop there. "Will I be going to jail for manufacturing the same Heavenly Hemp chips that I left in your office?" Chippi quipped. "If the chips are legal, why did you accept them? Would I be contacting Attorney General Janet Reno to tell her that you have an illegal substance in your office? Is it OK if she doesn't knock before she comes in?" According to Chippi, the DEA's ever-changing regulations are part of the federal government's effort to discredit and abolish the fledgling domestic hemp industry. "We're the only country in the world right now not growing industrial hemp," Chippi said. "We started the drug war on industrial hemp, and we're the only ones holding on to it." And the DEA's vacillating regulations are definitely having a negative impact on her business, Chippi said. "This is creating a ton of confusion about hemp," she said. "I think we've actually lost sales in the confusion over the last five months, and retailers are afraid to put our products in their stores, because at one point the DEA was saying they were going to press criminal charges against every company that was selling it - which put us in a rather bad position." Still, Chippi said she's not going to be intimidated and allow her company to become a collateral casualty of the war on drugs. "We're going to be ordering seed and flour within the next three weeks. If anything gets seized, all I can say is that we're going to be so noisy about it that you'll know." While Chippi would welcome all forms of public support, she said she understands why people might be reluctant to speak out on the issue. "I've definitely put myself out on the line, sending letters to the DEA saying everything they're doing is illegal," she said. "I suspect that most people would feel a little funny about doing something like that." Chippi has posted a host of DEA and U.S. Customs documents pertaining to the situation on her company's Web site. To view them, log on to http://www.hempfoods.com/ PHOTO CAPTION: David Almquist and Kathleen Chippi, co-owners of the Boulder Hemp Company, transfer sterilized hemp seeds into a press to extract oil for the high-protein meal used in the company's food product. Almquist and Chippi are concerned that recent policy changes enacted by the Drug Enforcement Administration will force them out of business or subject them to federal drug charges. - --- MAP posted-by: Greg
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