Got this in my inbox this morning:
quote id you know that on October 9, 2001 the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) adopted new rules severely restricting the sale of products with ingredients derived from industrial hemp? Hemp activists -- and many of us who have business as well as political interests in the outcome -- knew the DEA was planning a major new interpretation and clarification of its hemp policies, and had hoped they would be reasonable. The Body Shop USA launched our Save Hemp! Campaign this past summer and our customer support was overwhelming. Over 100,000 people signed a petition to the DEA, urging them not to ban industrial hemp products and support legalizing industrial hemp cultivation in the USA.
We did win half the battle; the new rules do not ban body care products or cosmetics containing hemp which means that, for now, The Body Shop range of hemp products (i.e. Hemp Hand Protector, Hemp Body Butter, Hemp Foot Protector), are still legal. But the DEA's new policy does ban any food or drink made with hemp seed or hemp-seed oil that contain any trace amount of the chemical THC.
The hemp industry is fighting back. Vote Hemp, an activism group coordinated by hemp industry leaders including David Bronner of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and Eric Steenstra, are working to push the DEA to reconsider.
...Along with this link so you can write your elected official (in the US) before the Dec 10 ending of the "comment period."
...and some other avenues for hemp activism.
Apparently, there's more info at Anita Roddick's web site.
Go now and do. |
