What is Hemp?
With all of the urban legends and misinformation surrounding the medical cannabis industry, there are numerous terms that have become confusing and distorted for patients.
One of the terms that many people have questions about is “hemp.”
So, what is “hemp” and is it an option for you on your journey to better health through medical cannabis?
A Basic Definition of Hemp
Hemp is a term that has been created to describe and categorize Cannabis sativa plants that have a negligible amount of THC.
Typically, the plant must have no more than 0.03% THC content to be considered “hemp.”
Hemp is grown for many different purposes, from medical grade CBD oil to industrial fiber, and specific strains of “hemp” are used for specific purposes.
An easy way to think about it is:
All hemp is cannabis, yet not all cannabis is hemp.
Why is this Important?
Understanding these terms is important because in many parts of the world cannabis is illegal but hemp is legal.
With the rise in popularity of CBD or cannabidiol, many countries including the United States have made cultivation and possession of hemp fully legal, while cultivation and possession of cannabis remains federally illegal.
Other countries like Canada have made the cultivation and possession of cannabis federally legal, which also makes the cultivation and possession of hemp legal under Canadian law because “Hemp is Cannabis.”
The Many Uses of Hemp
Hemp is often considered to be one of the earliest plants cultivated on planet Earth by humans. There is archaeological evidence of hemp being used as far back as the Neolithic age in China more than 5000 years ago.
What made hemp become so popular among early civilizations?
Probably the fact that it grows like a “weed” and it can be used for a variety of different applications like:
- Food and Nutrition
- Clothing
- Shoes
- Rope
- Paper
- Building Materials
- Jewelry
- Animal Bedding
- Biofuel
- CBD Oil
Cannabis is an amazing versatile plant, no matter how you look at it.
There said to be over 50,000 uses for the cannabis plant. Many experts believe that from a survival standpoint, the cannabis plant is one of the only plants found in nature that can fully provide human nutritional requirements and industrial uses from a single source.
How Hemp Helps the Environment
Hemp can help the environment in a few different ways. First, hemp can help to reduce soil toxicity and it has even been shown to remove radiation from the air and ground in areas like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Another way hemp helps the environment is it removes carbon emissions from the air. In fact, hemp has been shown to remove up to 1.63 tons of carbon from the air for every ton of hemp that is grown. With carbon content in the atmosphere being a cause of concern for climate change, hemp and cannabis in general may become a part of a larger plan to reduce carbon content in the air.
Hemp also offers numerous other benefits to the environment from helping to prevent deforestation to serving as an alternative renewable biofuel. With so many different environmental benefits, the amount of attention that this ancient plant is currently receiving is not surprising.
The Future of Hemp
As you can easily see, hemp has been used for thousands of years for a variety of different industrial, agricultural and medicinal purposes.
This is one crop that is sure to continue to reveal its many marvels thanks to modern science and global legal cannabis reform.
Thanks to new laws and regulations across North America and the world, many farmers who want to grow hemp can legally do so for the first time in almost a century!
The demand for global hemp-based products is predicted to increase rapidly over the coming years, due to its unparalleled industrial versatility and the medicinal properties of CBD. Whole plant CBD oil/extracts may also prove to be a staple for new age health and nutrition.
What Are Your Thoughts on Hemp?
What are your thoughts on hemp? Have you had the opportunity to try any whole plant CBD extract that was made from a hemp strain? Have you had success using CBD oil or other products created from hemp?
We woud love to hear from you.
Please take a moment to share your questions, comments and stories below and be sure to join the Kanteeva community to learn more about what our community members are having success with.
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