JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --
If you are like most Airmen, you lead a busy life, which often means you have to eat on the run. Many Airmen turn to snack bars to quickly satisfy their hunger. One popular brand is Kind, a company that promotes its bars as health snacks made from all-natural ingredients. In April 2014, Kind released a new line of snack bars called "Strong & Kind". The relatively new Strong & Kind bars contain an ingredient that is of particular importance to Airmen--hemp seeds. All five of the Strong & Kind bar flavors include hemp seeds.
Since hemp contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient also found in marijuana, the Air Force added hemp seed and hemp seed oil to the list of prohibited substances for Airmen in 1999. In order to ensure military readiness, the ingestion of products containing or products derived from hemp seeds or hemp seed oil is prohibited. Every military member is individually responsible for ensuring he or she is compliant with this policy, and failure to do so is a violation of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Even though Washington state has legalized marijuana use under certain circumstances, the use of marijuana and hemp remains illegal under the UCMJ for all military members whether on or off duty. The UCMJ applies to military members 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In order to avoid inadvertently consuming a product containing hemp seeds or hemp oil, Airmen should read the ingredients contained in any product they believe may contain hemp. Many health food stores carry products that contain hemp seeds, including health food stores and commissaries located on military bases.
Certainly all Airmen should strive to be both strong and kind in life, but to avoid a UCMJ violation Airmen should not eat Strong & Kind bars or any other product that contains hemp seeds or hemp oil. Any use or ingestion of products containing hemp seeds or hemp oil could lead to prosecution.