Hemp, hemp, hooray! - Scoop: health/fitness/nutrition/diet/supplements/personal care/environment - Brief Article

Hemp advocates can breathe easy again. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has slapped down a Drug Enforcement Agency ban on sales of products made from hemp, which the federal agency considers an illegal drug because the long-cultivated crop contains minimal levels of a psychoactive ingredient also found in marijuana.

The court's ruling makes it possible for the $40 million industry to continue to manufacture and sell hemp-based food items, personal care products and fabrics. Hemp has a long and distinguished history in this country. George Washington grew it, and Betsy Ross sewed her American flag with it--an ironic twist, since the freedom-loving United States is the only industrialized country in the world to ban industrial hemp.

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