Fraudulent valuation of a "strategic resource" by the DEA amounts to a "misprision of treason"

Ten years of tax-funded treason is long enough. The following misinformation has been on-line for ten years, come October 2011. Bold type designates the falsehoods and intentionally misleading definition of Cannabis "hemp" by the DEA.

DEA Clarifies Status of Hemp in the Federal Register, October 9, 2001


The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today announced rules to clarify the legal status of “hemp” products. “Hemp” is part of the cannabis plant, which is also known as marijuana. * The rules published in today’s edition of the Federal Register explain the circumstances under which “hemp” products are subject to control under federal law.

“Hemp” and marijuana are actually separate parts of the species of plant known as cannabis.* Under federal law, Congress defined marijuana to focus on those parts of the cannabis plant that are the source of tetrahydrocannabinols (THC). THC is the hallucinogenic* substance in marijuana that causes the psychoactive effect or “high.” The marijuana portions of the cannabis plant include the flowering tops (buds), the leaves, and the resin of the cannabis plant. The remainder of the plant — stalks and sterilized seeds — is what some people refer to as “hemp.”* However, “hemp” is not a term that is found in federal law.*

DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson stated that “many Americans do not know that hemp and marijuana are both parts of the same plant and that hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana.”

While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, have been found to contain THC. The existence of THC in hemp is significant because THC, like marijuana, is a schedule I controlled substance. Federal law prohibits human consumption and possession of schedule I controlled substances. In addition, they are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for medical use.

The rules that DEA is publishing today explain which hemp products are legal and which are not. This will depend on whether the product causes THC to enter the human body. If the product does cause THC to enter the human body, it is an illegal substance that may not be manufactured, sold, or consumed in the United States. Such products include “hemp” foods and beverages that contain THC.

If, however, the product does not cause THC to enter the human body, it is a noncontrolled substance that may lawfully be sold in the United States. Included in the category of lawful hemp products are textiles, such as clothing made using fiber produced from cannabis plant stalks. Also in the lawful category are personal care products that contain oil from sterilized cannabis seeds, such as soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

In issuing these rules, DEA has attempted to strike a fair balance between protecting the health and safety of all Americans and accommodating legitimate industry."

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And with that, the intractable lead agency sitting arrogantly at the head of a monumentally counter-productive "drug war" slams the lid on the world's most valuable agricultural resource, obviating the possibility of Cannabis farming and gardening in the United States and much of the world, where it could do a lot of good.

The truth is that the psychoactive strains of Cannabis are known as 'marijuana.' There are more than 400 active compounds in marijuana that work synergistically to afford unique and essential therapeutic benefit with a high degree of safety. Nutritionally, Cannabis is the only common seed with three essential fatty acids and is the best available source of organic vegetable protein on Earth. There is no THC in the seeds of either strain of Cannabis.

"Hemp" refers to the low-THC strains of Cannabis that contain very little THC compared to the marijuana strains. Hemp and marijuana are distinct, with very different cultivation methods used to grow very different crops.

There is no measurable THC in the steam distilled essential oils of hemp, yet this tremendously therapeutic and useful substance is still prohibited in the U.S.. For example, cannabinoids found in hemp have been shown to be as effective in treating breast cancer as chemotherapy with much less trauma inflicted on the patient.

Contrary to the published statement by the DEA, the term "hemp" is used to identify a "strategic food resource" in six Executive Orders signed by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Clinton.

Misrepresenting a "strategic food resource" as a "Schedule One drug" is a threat to national security, imposing scarcity on critically important domestic agricultural production.