After the DEA’s attempt to ban hemp food, activists tried to give officials and the public a taste of what they were missing yesterday, as part of a nationwide effort to challenge the DEA ruling.

Protesters distributed hemp granola bars to educate the public on the nutritional benefits of hemp products in front of the JFK Federal Building, which houses the Boston branch of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A March 21 Drug Enforcement Administration “Final Rule” prohibits all edible hemp products because of the cannabis plant’s primary chemical ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The hemp industry took a step toward victory last Thursday, however, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a motion to stay on the ruling.

Hemp is available in certain salad dressings, breads, cookies, granola bars, waffles, chips and pasta, and advocates tout its benefits of taste and nutrition. Though hemp seed does contain a minute amount of THC, it is not enough to produce a “high,” according to Mark Lathrop, chairman of the New Hampshire Hemp Council.

“It wouldn’t get you high if you smoked a whole pile,” Lathrop said.

Boston hemp activist Jeanne Black Ferguson, said the mandate – due to take effect yesterday – would compromise the nutritional value of hemp.

“Hemp seed is the only seed that has all the fatty acids and amino acids you need for one day,” she said.

John Dvorak, a self-proclaimed hempologist from Melrose, Mass. holding a sign saying “The government is lying,” agreed, saying the government’s ruling is the first step in a full ban of hemp products.

“Food is the place where [hemp] is gaining mainstream acceptance and becoming lucrative,” he said. “And the government says ‘God forbid that should happen.’ If any part of this Pandora’s Box gains, then the whole thing happens.”

Lathrop, who owns a hemp store in New Hampshire, disputed the DEA’s claim that farmers growing hemp would use it to hide marijuana plants. Since hemp and marijuana are separate strains of the same genus, he said, they must be grown apart or the hemp’s pollen would shut down THC levels in the marijuana.

Lathrop also accused the DEA of attempting to ban hemp only to prolong the war on drugs.

“If we start to grow hemp on a large scale in this country, you won’t be able to grow pot in your backyard anymore and you’ll put them out of work,” he said. “It’s all about money.”

Lauren Southern, a senior in the Boston University College of Communication and member of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition, said many do not recognize the difference between hemp and marijuana, both variations of the cannabis plant.

“I’m here because a lot of people wrongly believe that hemp and pot are the same thing,” she said, “and so they associate this issue with the legalization of pot, and it’s not the same.”

Southern said she uses hemp hair products, soap, food, clothing and necklaces, and that most hemp products are superior to others, though they tend to be more expensive. Boston University should have a Students for Sensible Drug Policy program to raise awareness about hemp products, she said.

“A lot of people walk around BU wearing hemp necklaces without realizing that could be illegal soon,” she said.

Dvorak said “prohibition” was the impetus to the ban of hemp, comparing it with alcohol prohibition of the early 20th century. He sympathized with the efforts of hemp farmers, whose jobs stand in danger with the fate of the DEA ruling.

“The farmers need more help than anybody,” he said. “They’re the ones who are struggling a lot right now, and this would be an excellent crop to plant in rotation.”

He said hemp farmers would not jeopardize their freedom by planting marijuana; regulations would keep hemp plants under control.

Lisa Williams, a Fall River resident who attended the protest, said she sees the benefits of hemp in her construction job. Industries such as logging and oil see it as competition and push for its prohibition, however, according to Williams.

“If we can grow industrial hemp in this country, it would solve all our economical problems,” she said.

The activists met with a special agent at the DEA office, according to Diane Brackett, acting public information officer for the Massachusetts branch of the DEA. They gave officials information on the benefits of hemp food, and requested that they remain open to the values of the cannabis plant.

“They obviously came up here to be heard, and we gave them the opportunity to be heard,” Brackett said. “We told them we would look through [the material], and we will.”

The group also offered DEA representatives samples of hemp granola bars, to which they refused, Brackett said.

“The food does contain THC, and therefore that does pose health issues as far as we’re concerned,” she said. “They left with their food products.”

The federal DEA office refused to respond to the nationwide protests in light of Thursday’s stay.

Black-Ferguson said she did not expect much response from DEA officials because protesters frequent their office.

However, the public is receptive to the cause, she said, with 683,000 people joining her “Grammas for Ganja” movement to reform drug policy.