Commentary – Hemp Wars

Earlier this year, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy ruled that hemp products from Canada were not allowed into the United States because of the trace amounts of THC that they contained. But as Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Suzanne Elston points out the government’s move may have little to do with controlling an illegal substance:

Transcript

Earlier this year, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy ruled that hemp products from Canada were not allowed into the United States because of the trace amounts of THC that they contained. But as Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Suzanne Elston points out the government’s move may have little to do with controlling and illegal substance.


It all started out innocently enough. Jean Laprise, a Canadian farmer was producing hemp products like birdseed and hemp fiber for the U.S. market. The hemp was all carefully tested and showed only minute traces of THC, the stuff in marijuana that makes you high. Laprise had been shipping the hemp for over a year without any problems. And then last summer, without any explanation or warning, U.S. Customs impounded 40,000 pounds of Laprise’s birdseed.


In December, after months of haggling back and forth between Canadian and U.S. government agencies, U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration finally decided that the whole thing was a gross misunderstanding. They declared that the products complied with the U.S. Controlled Substance Act and Laprise was set to start shipping again.


Enter the Office of National Drug Control Policy – an office of The White House no less. In January it declared that any amount of THC, regardless of how small, was too much and placed an outright ban on the importation of hemp.


I’m all in favor of the war on drugs. But this is ridiculous. This stuff doesn’t contain enough THC to get a bird high. Not only that, but hemp products are actually good for the environment. Hemp fiber is stronger and more durable than cotton and hemp plants require none of the heavy pesticides needed to grow those crops. Hemp can also be used to make paper, without the use of chlorine. Pulp and paper mills are notorious for polluting many of our waterways with their chlorine-laced effluent.


And maybe that’s the point. It seems to me that this has a lot more to do with powerful industrial lobbies like cotton and pulp and paper than it does about protecting the American public from the dangers of the demon weed.


It’s ironic that at the same time The White House bans the importation of hemp in the name of public safety, it’s shipping weapons-grade plutonium across the country. Kind of makes me wonder what the boys in Washington have been smoking.