NORML Weekly Press Release

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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. 



Hepatitis C Patient Can Now Legally Smoke Marijuana Following Two Day 
Protest

    Ottawa, Ontario: After two days and nights of public protest on 
Parliament Hill, Robert Brown, a 43-year-old infected with hepatitis C 
who has been trying to get consent from Health Canada for the past 12 
months, received word this week that he could legally smoke marijuana to 
treat his illness.
    A sergeant in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police located Brown huddled 
under an umbrella in a cold rain and handed him a cellular telephone. Dr. 
Robert Peterson, Associate Director-General of the Therapeutic Products 
Program of Health Canada, Canada's health care bureaucracy, gave Brown 
the good news. 
    Health Canada said Brown's two-day protest did not influence its 
decision but spokesman Jeff Pender conceded, "Obviously the fact that he 
was out in the cold and getting sicker probably lent it to gathering the 
last bit of information (faster)."
    Brown, now becomes Canada's 20th person approved to legally use 
marijuana medicinally. In August, Health Canada promised $7.5 million to 
the Medical Marijuana Research Project over the next five years to 
evaluate the medical use of marijuana.
    Brown hopes the government's decision will also help him this June when 
he goes on trial on charges stemming from a December 1998 arrest for 
marijuana possession, cultivation and intent to traffic. On Wednesday, 
the Crown announced that it is reviewing its case against Brown due to 
his constitutional exemption and his state of health.
    For now, Brown is just happy to be allowed to use marijuana legally. He 
said on Monday, "I'm going to go home and hug my wife and then I'm going 
to smoke. I'm feeling pretty sick, but I'm feeling pretty good."
    For more information, please contact Scott Colvin, NORML Publications 
Director at (202) 483-5500.


CA Anti-Marijuana Legislation Killed In Committee

    Sacramento, CA: The California Senate Public Safety Committee this week 
unanimously rejected Sen. Pete Knight's anti-marijuana and drug bill, SB 
273.
    The Bill would have amended the state's drug-free zone law to include 
marijuana and would have extended the definition of drug-free zones, 
which currently include only public property within 1,000 feet of a 
school, to include private property as well. 
    Initially the bill would have raised the maximum penalty for marijuana 
possession from $100 to $1,000. The bill was then revised in an attempt 
to gain support. 
    For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, State Coordinator 
of California NORML at (415) 563-5858.


NORML 2000 Conference Update

    Please register now for the NORML 2000 conference in Washington, DC on 
Feb. 3-5, 2000. To be assured of the special reduced hotel rates for 
NORML 2000 Conference attendees, please also register with the hotel 
ASAP. For more information on the NORML 2000 conference please visit 
www.norml.org or call (202) 483-5500. To reserve a hotel room at the 
Washington Plaza Hotel please call (800) 424-1140 (mention #8385). 

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