270.Htm - From: Advocates for Self-Government Subject: Liberator OnLine, Vol. 3, No. 7 Fri, 3 Apr 1998 - Drug-Testing Industry Urges Prohibition of Legal Hemp Products - A leading drug-testing industry trade journal is calling on Congress to amend federal law to prohibit the possession and sale of currently legal hemp products -- despite the fact that those products are endorsed by health experts and have no mind-altering qualities. The call is in response to mounting scientific evidence demonstrating that standard drug tests cannot distinguish whether an individual has smoked marijuana or consumed legal hemp products such as hemp oil. "There is little question that the most pressing issue in drug testing today is the commercial distribution of hemp products, ...which when used or ingested result in forensically significant amounts of cannabinoids in urine, blood, saliva, and hair," Theodore Shults wrote in the January 1998 edition of MRO Alert. "... The solution is to draft acceptable federal legislative action that will amend the Federal Drug Control Act. Essentially, this would remove products that would cause a positive urinalysis from distribution and make their use 'illegal.'" The importation and possession of hemp fiber, seeds, and products is legal under federal law. Hemp health products, such as hemp seed oil, are sold commercially in health food stores across the nation. Some prominent health professionals, such as Dr. Andrew Weil, tout the nutritional benefits of hemp oil, noting that it is second only to soy in protein and contains the highest concentration of essential amino and fatty acids found in any food. A series of studies conducted this past summer and reported in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology indicated that regular users of the oil may test positive for low levels of THC. Recently, a jury in Delaware overturned a U.S. Air Force court martial after hearing evidence that hemp oil may test positive for marijuana on a urine test. Shults warned that unless such products are banned, "it is only a matter of time before federal drug testing programs will be legally challenged on this constitutional issue."

(Source: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws > [NORML]) > Jay Stewart Vice President Olympia Networking Services - "Premier Internet Access" Phone (360) 753.3636 Fax (360) 357.6160 http://www.olywa.net/