‘Cannabis L Sativa’ as nomenclature is used to describe Industrial Hemp as well as Marijuana, yet each is genetically distinct and can be differentiated by intended use as well as cultivation practice. Marijuana generally refers to the psychoactive plant uniquely positioned for medical and recreational use, while industrial hemp is cultivated for use in a wide range of nearly 50,000 products ranging from bricks to boats and blenders to buildings as well as for Cannabidiol (CBD) extraction.
Current US Hemp market size and growth estimates vary widely and largely underestimate the potential of this ancient plant. Attribute breeding along with upgraded equipment and modernized methodologies for harvesting, processing and manufacturing allows us to expand use well beyond the last great hemp era when ‘Popular Mechanics’ in 1938 called Hemp ‘The New Billion Dollar Crop’ and when cultivation in 1943 peaked at 150 million pounds in support of our war efforts. Supply-chain legalization along with USDA support means that farmers can access grants as well as crop insurance, while profitability along with environmental benefit makes hemp a unique impact investment opportunity.
To Be Buried Is Also To Be Planted
Hemp is naturally pest resistant and counts weed suppression, carbon sequestration and soil improvement amongst its environmental benefits. It grows well in areas that produce high corn yields and thus can transform vast swaths of American farmland towards higher value production. Its immense potential to impact large and diverse industries may well have the hemp industry see greater growth than its popular psychoactive cousin over time.
Governmental wisdom defines industrial hemp as any part of the Cannabis L Sativa plant, growing or not, that does not exceed 0.3% of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol on a dry weight basis. While this definition of hemp is botanically inaccurate, it does allow for all plants deemed to be ‘hemp’ by the government’s definition to be permanently removed from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This new definition of hemp includes cannabinoids, derivatives and extracts and thus also frees popular hemp products such as hemp-derived CBD from the clutches of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).