Dr. Bronner’s CEO Protests Federal Industrial Hemp Policy In D.C.
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Advocating for change to the federal government’s hemp policy, CEO David Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, which uses hemp oil in its cleansing and skin-care products, locked himself in a steel cage in front of the White House June 11 and harvested industrial hemp plants before being arrested.
As part of his latest advocacy crusade, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps CEO David Bronner staged a protest in front of the White House to challenge the federal government’s position on industrial hemp, which he maintains could be a profitable crop for U.S. farmers.
Hemp can be imported but not grown in the U.S., and according to Dr. Bronner’s, the U.S. is the biggest global market for hemp seed and fiber products, which generated more than $400 million in retail sales in 2011.
Industrial hemp is used in cosmetics and food items as well as in the manufacture of clothing, paper and other products. The product is characterized as a controlled substance due to its similarities to marijuana, another member of the Cannabis family, though consumption does not confer the same psychoactive effects because of a substantially lower tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level.
Convinced that hemp can play a valuable role in “helping transition our major industries away from polluting, unsustainable materials and methods to cleaner, sustainable ones,” Dr. Bronner’s has undertaken a campaign pushing for recommercialization of industrial hemp in the U.S.
On June 11, the company’s chief exec – and fifth-generation Bronner in the soap business – locked himself in a steel cage with 12 industrial hemp plants, which he intended to harvest and press for hemp oil and serve as food to the public and media.
However, the CEO was arrested before he was able to finish the harvesting process. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful assembly, and pleaded not guilty to both counts in D.C. Superior Court.
On Twitter, the firm says Bronner will appear at a court hearing July 25.
The hemp “cannot produce a high of any kind, but according to the Obama Administration I [was] in possession of approximately 10 pounds of marijuana,” Bronner says in a June 11 release.
The CEO continues: “President Obama’s U.S. Attorney who handles drug cases in Washington, D.C., will not be able to prove my hemp has any more drug value than a poppy seed bagel.”
According to Dr. Bronner’s, the hemp being harvested in the demonstration had THC levels below 0.3%, the “global standard to ensure that hemp cannot be utilized for any drug purposes.”
While they can’t grow industrial hemp in the U.S., firms are permitted to import it. According to Dr. Bronner’s, the U.S. is the biggest global market for hemp seed and fiber products, which generated more than $400 million in retail sales in 2011.
Personal-care firms are among consumer goods producers that use the oil and seed from industrial hemp in products. For Dr. Bronner’s, the hemp oil helps to “impart a smooth lather and less drying after-feel” in its cleansing products.
The company imports more than 20 tons of hemp oil valued at over $100,000 from Canada each year.
“Industrial hemp is an agricultural crop grown on large farms in Canada, Europe and China, which all prohibit marijuana cultivation and their police have no problem distinguishing [industrial] hemp,” Bronner says.
Movement On The Hill
The federal Controlled Substances Act lists “marihuana” as a Schedule I drug. At least in recent decades, the U.S. government has essentially equated industrial hemp with the drug popularly known as marijuana because they are both variants of the Cannabis plant, even though the former is a different strain with significantly lower THC content and potential for abuse.
In light of that distinction, Bronner characterizes federal policy on industrial hemp as a “deliberate misinterpretation of existing law” by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
There is movement in Congress to correct this perceived disservice.
On June 7, Sens. Ron Wyden, R-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., proposed an amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012 that would exclude industrial hemp from the regulatory definition of marijuana and classify it as an agricultural crop that may be grown in the U.S. as long as THC levels do not exceed 0.3%.
Dr. Bronner’s and the American Herbal Products Association have thrown their weight behind the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, introduced last year in the House by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas (Also see "AHPA, Dr. Bronner’s Champion Bill To Legalize U.S. Industrial Hemp Production" - HBW Insight, 23 May, 2011.).
That bill similarly specifies that “the term ‘marihuana’ does not include industrial hemp. ... The term ‘industrial hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3% on a dry weight basis.”
States would regulate the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp based on their own laws under the bill, which has garnered 33 co-sponsors and been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
“The President can simply direct the Department of Justice to respect industrial hemp grown pursuant to existing state hemp programs,” Bronner explains.
According to advocacy group Vote Hemp, 31 states have introduced hemp legislation and 17 have passed some form of legislation.
Kentucky has asked to be an industrial hemp farming “test case” for the country, optimistic that its program will persuade the federal government to permit hemp farming nationally (Also see "Kentucky Wants To Be Industrial Hemp Farming Test Case" - HBW Insight, 30 Jan, 2012.).