Greeks Seeks To Weed Out Hemp Goods

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Filed at 1:45 a.m. EST

By The Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Hemp was hot. Business was so good that one tiny shop quickly blossomed into 15 throughout

Greece.

Now, a police crackdown threatens to stamp out sales of products manufactured from European Union-subsidized industrial

hemp, including clothing, beauty products, shoe polishes, furniture oils, cough lozenges and building insulation.

Owners of Kannabishop stores appear to be fighting a losing battle to promote industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa, a drug-free

cousin of the marijuana plant. It contains only traces of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the substance that makes pot smokers

high.

``I don't understand why they are confiscating pants, shoes and other products,'' said Yuli Kalofolia, owner of the first

Kannabishop in central Athens.

In the past two weeks, police have raided more than half the stores, seized merchandise and charged some of the owners on

felony counts of promoting narcotics use.

Yiannis Ganiatsas, who imports merchandise for Kannabishop, maintains the crackdown violates European Union laws

allowing the free movement of goods. Ganiatsas and others suspect it may be part of an effort to revamp the image of a police

force tarnished by a series of foul-ups and corruption scandals, but conservative attitudes may also play a role.

Greece has some of the strictest narcotics laws in the Eurpean Union and anti-drug crusades can grow zealous.

One recent case involved a State Chemistry Laboratory ban on the import of Cannabis beer, another product freely sold in

much of the EU. The reason: a marijuana-like odor and a label with the cannabis leaf, which looks like its illicit cousin.

Some larger chains, including The Body Shop, have stopped selling hemp products in Greece.

``The Body Shop is waiting for the final legal viewpoint,'' said Alex Manos, a spokesman for the London-based chain whose

founder, Anita Roddick, is a globe-trotting proponent of industrial hemp.

Hemp fiber also can be used to make paper and panels as strong as plywood. The seed can be ground for flour and livestock

seed.

Peter von Lobenthal, a managing partner in Germany's Hanf Haus, which sells products to Kannabishop, could not understand

why Greece was cracking down on the stores. ``This is very strange and a little medieval,'' von Lobenthal said.

Production is legal in nearly all EU states and its growing is heavily subsidized by the 15-nation Union. Greece's commerce

ministry not only freely allows its import, but the agriculture ministry has been considering its introduction as a cash crop.

It is still illegal to grow in the United States, where opponents claim it can be used to hide the production of marijuana. Hemp

products can be imported to the United States. Canada decided to let farmers begin planting hemp this year.