Feds mull hemp products ban

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the White House are proposing new rules to ban the sale of non-drug hemp products. Hemp is the source plant for marijuana.
Such products as hemp-seed oil, toasted seed snacks and pastries are popular among consumers who seek the reputed benefits of the oil. The new regulations would allow law enforcement to treat the substances — which have no psychoactive use — as “drugs” and prosecute vendors accordingly. The new regulations still must be formally approved. “It’s not a great deal of our business, by any means,” says Steve Cook, manager of Sevananda Natural Foods Co-Op in Little Five Points. “We sell hemp oil as a nutritional supplement ... Most people use it for nutritional concerns.”
Backers of the ban say it will make it easier to ferret out drug users by testing; current blood and urine tests can be misled by “false positives” resulting from the use of such products.