Canada Acts Against DEA Hemp Rule

Canada Acts Against DEA Hemp Rule

WASHINGTON--Kenex Ltd., a Canadian agro-firm, was involved in a meeting on March 25 at the U.S. Department of State to discuss the company's intent to sue the U.S. government under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for restricting the sale of Canadian hemp products under the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) interpretive rule. The company is suing for $20 million.

"A few million dollars would not even begin to cover the cost of the financial hardships Kenex has suffered through DEA's harassment of our business and the hemp food marketplace in general," said Jean Laprise, Kenex president. "Since the DEA's new rule was announced, our U.S. hemp seed and oil sales have virtually ceased. If the DEA is not stopped, we are finished."

The Canadian government also released a statement in response to DEA's rule: "There is no evidence that the effective ban on relevant Canadian food products on the U.S. market is based on any risk assessment. Therefore, Canada objects to these measures."

In previous U.S. news, on March 7, DEA received a letter from 19 members of Congress, telling the agency its interpretive rule is "overly restrictive," according to VoteHemp (www.votehemp.com). The letter urged DEA to "establish realistic standards which take into account current testing technologies and better define trace levels of THC which are permissible for human use."

Also on March 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco granted the hemp industry's motion to stay DEA's interpretive rule. The motion was brought jointly by the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and several hemp food companies in the United States and Canada.

"The Court's order effectively prevents DEA from enforcing its 'interpretive rule' until a final ruling by the Court on the validity of DEA's action," said JoeSandler, counsel for HIA (www.thehia.org). "With this stay in effect, all those who sell, import, manufacture, distribute or retail edible hemp oil and seed can continue those activities secure in the knowledge that such products remain perfectly lawful."

According to a statement released by VoteHemp, the industry is optimistic that the Court will ultimately invalidate DEA's rule. Attorneys were scheduled to appear before the court on April 8, 2002, to make oral arguments. "Based on the law and common sense, we expect that the Court will find that DEA's rules are obviously unfounded and arbitrary," said David Bronner, chair on HIA's food and oil committee.