>From: "Peter McWilliams" <peter@mcwilliams.com>
>Subject: McCaffrey NOT for the birds after all
>Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 04:51:38 -0800
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>
>January 13, 2000
>
>U.S. Drug Czar Commands Customs To Seize All Hemp Seed Imports That
>Contain Any THC
>
>-U.S. Government Protecting Business Interests Of The Drug Testing
>Industry-
>
>     Washington, DC: The embargo on sterilized hemp seeds entering the United
>States that was lifted in December has once again been reinstated on
>order of U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, because it goes against his
>office's "zero tolerance policy."
>     Tom Corwin, of the U.S. Customs Department of Trade Programs, said when
>the hemp seed embargo was lifted in December, they looked at other
>country's limits for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and decided that 0.3
>percent THC should be the limit. He said this decision was made without
>the knowledge of the drug czar's office. Corwin said McCaffrey was
>"offended" by this decision because it went against the Office of
>National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) National Drug Control Strategy.
>     A Jan. 5 memorandum from Robert McNamara, Deputy Assistant Commissioner,
>Office of Field Operations, instructed U.S. Customs to "[S]uspend the
>policy that allows for the legal importation into the United States of
>sterilized hemp seed or other hemp products which contain an amount not
>in excess of 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol."
>     Corwin said that according to the drug czar's orders, every hemp seed
>shipment arriving from Canada will be detained, and a sample will be
>taken to a lab to determine if there is any trace of THC. This process
>takes 30 days. If there is any trace of THC, the shipment will be seized.
>     Corwin said another of McCaffrey's concerns is that even trace amounts
>of THC in hemp seed products could cause a false positive drug test.
>     In August, the DEA instructed U.S. Customs to stop the importation of
>all hemp seed products into the U.S. The first seizure was a 53,000 pound
>load of sterilized birdseed imported by Kenex Ltd. In November, the DEA
>lifted the embargo and allowed sterilized seeds to enter the country.
>      "The hemp industry suffered a huge loss of momentum
>when Customs illegally cut off our supplies for four months," said Don
>Wirtshafter of the Ohio Hempery. "We finally were getting back on our
>feet when the drug czar did this about-face on us. Any new regulations
>should come only after rule making procedures, not on some bureaucrat's
>whim."
>     For more information, please contact Don Wirtshafter of the Ohio Hempery
>at (740) 662-4367 or Tom Dean, Esq., NORML Foundation Litigation Director
>at (202) 483-8751.
>
>
>
>
>
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