- As of yesterday, if you are in possession
of hemp food products, you are now a criminal under federal law.
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- That's right: Possession of one hemp
candy bar or hemp-seed bagel can land you in federal prison. Possession
of 220 pounds of hemp food products yields a five-year mandatory minimum
prison sentence, and 2,200 pounds yields a 10-year mandatory minimum.
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- Even if you have previously written to
your elected officials on this matter, please visit http://www.SaveHemp.org
right now to send them a pre-written letter of protest, now that the DEA's
insane regulations have taken effect.
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- The Marijuana Policy Project has traditionally
not involved itself in hemp-related issues, primarily because people were
not being arrested and imprisoned for hemp law violations. Unfortunately,
the DEA's new hemp regulations could change this.
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- In sum, hemp products that can introduce
trace amounts of THC -- even just a few molecules -- into the body are
now illegal, even though these hemp products cannot produce a psychoactive
effect of any kind. Only hemp products that aren't consumed and introduce
literally zero molecules of THC into the body remain legal.
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- The motivation behind the federal government's
war on hemp food is similar to the federal government's war on marijuana-using
patients: The federal government opposes any kind of evidence -- including
clinical research -- that shows marijuana does not destroy lives and ruin
society. Marijuana-using patients are evidence that marijuana can actually
help save lives, so the government puts them in prison. Hemp food products
show that a part of the marijuana plant can be nutritious without any negative
side effects, so the government is now waging its war on this new front.
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- Again, please visit http://www.SaveHemp.org
to send a letter to your state and federal legislators to alert them about
the DEA's new war.
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- SUMMARY OF DEA's WAR ON HEMP
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- * The DEA has "interpreted"
existing federal law to mean that hemp foods that contain trace amounts
of THC have been illegal since 1970. Anyone possessing such hemp food products
is now subject to federal prosecution and imprisonment.
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- * Hemp personal care products can only
be consumed and produced at one's own risk, since the DEA says it can arrest
someone for using hemp shampoo and then leave it to the individual to prove
that the product does not cause any THC to "enter the human body."
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- * Hemp paper, rope, and similar products
will remain legal.
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- WAR ON HEMP and WAR ON MARIJUANA
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- The DEA is only able to justify its war
on hemp because marijuana is prohibited. If marijuana were legally regulated,
then the DEA would not be able to claim that hemp products containing THC
are illegal.
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- To help MPP in its battle against the
DEA -- and MPP's effort to end the war on all marijuana users -- please
join MPP and/or donate at http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html
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