Some United States health food stores sell "Hempzels", salted pretzels made with hemp seed flour, which its manufacturer says are made from "the world's most versatile and misunderstood plant".
But the US Drug Enforcement Administration contends that Hempzels, which may contain trace amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, are a controlled substance that is illegal.
Under a new zero-tolerance rule due to take effect in February, Hempzels and scores of other products like them would be taken off the shelves and sellers could be prosecuted under tough US drug laws.
Hemp industry advocates say this rule would doom hemp pretzels, tortilla chips and other health food products containing hemp, which according to the maker of Hempzels has "all the complete proteins and essential oils in perfect balance for human nutrition".
Unfortunately for makers of these foods, the hemp plant is the unfortunate cousin of another member of the cannabis family, marijuana, which is banned in the United States.
The DEA rule, published in October and due to take effect in February, would ban any product with any measurable traces of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinols.
"This is not anything new, it's more of a clarification," said a DEA spokesman who asked not to be identified. "There was confusion in the public as to what products were legal and not legal...if the product contains THC and is intended to be consumed in the body, then the product is illegal."
Hemp advocates say that unlike marijuana, the larger industrial hemp plant has only trace amounts of naturally occurring THC and thus cannot produce the effects of more potent marijuana.
"I don't think it is physically possible" to get high from hemp, says David Bronner, a member of the California-based Hemp Industries Association.
"You'd have to eat a whole truckload or smoke a telephone pole" of hemp, he said.
Bronner said the US government is "caught up in a knee-jerk drug war hysteria" that threatens an important food and industrial crop.
Hemp has been used for centuries to make rope, linen and other textiles, and its fibres can also be used for paper in a way that is more environmentally friendly than the use of timber, which requires cutting down forests.
Hemp oil has long been used for industrial purposes but more recently has been found to have an exceptional nutritional profile - containing essential fatty acids found in fish that are considered important for good health.
Proponents say an exemption for hemp products has been recognised as far back as 1937, when Congress first banned marijuana.
US law "explicitly and plainly excludes hemp oil and seeds", said a comment to the proposed DEA rule filed by the Hemp Industries Association. "DEA cannot 'interpret' or 'clarify' either the (law) or DEA's own regulations to mean otherwise than what their texts plainly state."
Moreover, hemp advocates contend that standards adopted by Canada and the European Union that maintain THC levels of less than five parts per million can guarantee there is no danger from hemp products.
A similar standard was set for poppy seeds used in breads and pastries - which may contain trace quantities of opiates like the seeds from its cousin, the opium poppy.
The DEA argues that poppy seeds are specifically excluded from the law, unlike THC.
The hemp industry has asked the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn the rule and to issue an injunction to block enforcement while the case is pending.
"If we don't get an injunction it'll be too late," said Bronner, who said that if the DEA is allowed to enforce the rule in February it will cause several businesses to shut down and effectively kill the industry that generates some $US5 million ($NZ11.47 million) a year.
Bronner said Canadian and other hemp producers may file challenges under North American Free Trade Agreement or World Trade Organisation procedures.
Meanwhile, some members of Congress have taken up the cause.
"The 'zero-tolerance' THC interpretation is overly restrictive," California Representative George Miller said in a letter to the DEA.
"Numerous countries have found ways to permit the use of hemp products while ensuring that these products do not either intentionally or unintentionally cause psychoactive effects."
© AFP
