What’s The Story With Hemp?

With the passage of this December 2018’s Farm Bill, hemp finally became legal for cultivation across the United States. Historically, hemp hasn’t been legal to grow in the United States, though products sourced from internationally-grown hemp have been legal for purchase. Not only is this a huge boom for farmers, who now have the ability to grow a new industrial crop, it means positive changes ahead for the hemp and CBD industry, seeing as the supply chain just moved closer to home.

But what exactly is hemp?

How does it differ from the type of cannabis that can be smoked for fun–the type that gets people high?

Fiber from the plant’s stems also serves a variety of purposes–hemp fibers are used to make paper, rope, textiles, building materials, alternative plastics, clothing, dietary supplements and other food products, milk substitutes and more. The leaves and flowers are able to be made into therapeutic oils and smokables, too. 

Hemp is a species of the cannabis plant, from which CBD can be extracted. It does contain THC, but not enough to result in intoxication when consumed.

Other species of the cannabis plant (commonly known as marijuana) produce high amounts of THC and low amounts of CBD. These are used to produce cannabis intended for recreational drug or medical use–in other words, the stuff that gets us stoned.

Honey Oil’s CBD is sourced from 100% United States-grown hemp already, owing to a commitment to use only the highest quality hemp. It is difficult to enact quality control from overseas, so the presence of pesticides, herbicides, toxic molds and various heavy metals is a common issue found throughout the hemp industry. Moving hemp production to the United States is one way that manufacturers can have eyes on the cultivation process, thereby ensuring a higher quality threshold in the final product. It also helps the industry to legitimize.

It is important for the CBD and hemp industries and the cannabis recreational and medicinal drug industry to continue to distinguish themselves from one another. They have vastly different purposes, need different regulations and target different kinds of consumers. As the cannabis industry, as a whole, changes and matures, it’s important to focus on education along the way. Knowing which plants do what is an important first step.