People who have smoked pot recreationally or have considered using medical marijuana often wonder whether hemp is weed and whether the two can be used interchangeably.
The biological classification doesn’t help either since both plants are classified as Cannabis.
To the untrained eye, they look identical too. However, the similarities end there. Both plants are as different as chalk and cheese in their chemical makeup and their intended usage.
Hemp, also known as Industrial hemp, is a commodity crop with a wide range of commercial applications that spans across industries. The most notable use that has put it in the spotlight recently, is the extraction of CBD.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Hemp’s applications are bountiful. The laws and regulations that apply to Hemp are entirely different from what applies to Marijuana, especially after the Farm Bill of 2018.
In this blog post, we will demystify Hemp, revisit its history and understand the key differences that separate it from Marijuana.
What is Hemp?
Hemp is a variety of the Cannabis Sativa plant that is grown for commercial purposes. It is a dioecious plant, which means that it can be separated into male and female plants.
While it has been hogging the limelight recently courtesy CBD, it has been grown for more than 10000 years.
There are few commercial plants with as many applications as Hemp.
Right from its stem, to the stalk to the seeds and the leaves, almost every part of the plant is used in industrial applications. The usage includes but is not limited to fabrics, oil, fuel, personal care products, construction, medicinal, furniture, paper and more.
The most important difference though is that Hemp contains only 0.3% of THC, the cannabinoid that causes the psychoactive effect, or the high that you get from smoking or ingesting Pot.
This does not mean that Hemp does not contain psychoactive cannabinoids at all.
But industrial hemp has been selectively bred to minimize the concentration of THC to below 0.3% while ensuring that the other terpenes and cannabinoids are left untouched.
History of Hemp
A lot of historians opine that Hemp might have been the first agricultural crop grown by humans.
Traces of hemp fiber were discovered on pottery excavated from the Yangshao province. This dated to the Neolithic age, suggesting that the Chinese were probably one of the first ones to understand the many applications of the plant.
They used it extensively to produce paper, fiber, building materials, and bowstrings. Hemp seeds also featured in their diets as they realized that it is a rich source of proteins as well as essential fatty acids.
However, the Chinese monarchy kept it a closely-guarded secret for centuries.
Around 10000 BC, the plant was cultivated in the area that is known as Taiwan today.
Other early traces of the plant dated to 8000 BC were discovered in Japanese Islands. Some other experts also believe that the Japanese learned the art of making fiber and paper from the Chinese.
Either way, Hemp began to be cultivated widely and it began to travel across the globe with travelers.
The Vikings picked it up by the 8th Century. The Arabs began cultivating it by the 9th century.
It reached Europe much later, by the 16th century.
In 1606, Hemp reached Northern America and as they say, it conquered the continent as a plant that could meet the burgeoning needs of a rapidly expanding society.
American farmers grew hemp primarily for producing fiber, ropes, oil, and fuel.
In the 17th Century, farmers were legally required to grow hemp.
Why was the cultivation stopped?
There are two important laws that were passed in the United States that discouraged farmers from cultivating hemp, primarily because Cannabis was mixed up with Marijuana.
The Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937 to curb the blatant abuse and addiction caused due to Marijuana. It placed a hefty tax on the cultivation of hemp but did not criminalize it.
The controlled substances act of 1970 though labeled Hemp as an illegal Schedule I drug, permanently imposing regulations on the cultivation of the plant and making it illegal to grow.
This happened, despite there being tons of studies that proved that Hemp was entirely different from Marijuana.
It would also make it impossible to conduct large scale clinical research and studies about CBD, which was already being considered as a potential remedy for a wide range of ailments.
Farmers began to lobby against the law immediately with considerable support from researchers.
But it took another 44 years for the government to pass the Farm Bill, which allowed research organizations to begin the cultivation of industrial hemp.
In 2018, the Agricultural Improvement Act was passed, which modified the farm bill to remove hemp and hemp seeds from the Controlled Substances act.
Uses of Hemp
Hemp is a protean, sustainable plant that has a multitude of uses and applications spanning across industries.
In fact, Popular Mechanics Magazine ran an article in 1938 calling Hemp ‘The New Billion Dollar Plant’ that had 25000 uses.
More recently, that number has upped to 50000.
There is no doubt that Hemp can be a sustainable, environment-friendly alternative to plastics, fossil fuel and even cement one day.
Here are the applications that it is primarily used for.
Industrial Uses: The Farm Bill of 2018 calls the plant ‘Industrial Hemp’. That’s because right from the stem to the seed, every single part of the plant is used for industrial applications.
- Fiber: One of the oldest recorded uses of Hemp is to manufacture fiber. Today, industrial hemp can either be grown purely for fiber, or it can be a dual-purpose crop that produces both fiber and seeds. The second variety has a delayed harvest that allows the seeds to fully develop. Hemp grown purely for fiber is harvested earlier and produces two types of fibers after processing. The tow is the short fiber used for stuffing, clothing, and furnishing. The line fiber is the longer fiber that can be up to 16 feet in length. This has a slightly coarse texture like linen and is normally blended with other natural fibers like cotton. Hemp fiber has a multitude of advantages. The most notable one is that the per acre yield is much higher as compared to say, cotton or flax. The plant is also naturally pest resistant and can be harvested in just 60-days.
- Food and Beverage: Hemp’s recognition as a superfood has bolstered its applications in the food and beverage industry. Today, it is being used in an ever-growing number of consumer goods including oil, milk, protein powder, cereals, beer, flour, and granola bars. The most widely used part of the plant in the F&B industry though is the seed. Hemp seeds are crammed with a cocktail of nutrients and can be eaten raw or cooked or roasted or just about any other way that you fancy them. It is not a complete protein. But has a very desirable macronutrient profile as compared to other plant-based sources. It is high in arginine, low in lysine, is packed with antioxidants like sterols and carotenoids, is high in protein second only to soy, and is gluten-free.
- Paper: There was an old USDA bulletin aired in 1916 that touted that an acre of Hemp can produce 4 times the amount of paper produced from an acre of trees. The study has been the subject of a raging debate with proponents citing it time and again, and detractors trashing it saying that it is being misquoted. The fact though is that Hemp matures in barely four months, is packed with cellulose, is low in lignin and can be recycled over and over up to 7-times. Hemp hurd has a texture identical to wood and can be used to produce high-quality paper that does not yellow or crack with time. Hemp fiber is also used to produce a thicker and softer paper ideal for everyday use.
- Oil: Hemp seeds are used to produce Hemp seed oil which has an ideal 3:1 ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6, essential fatty acids, Arginine and GLA. Currently, there is a crushing demand on the fishing industry for sourcing fish oil that is taking a toll on marine life. Organic hemp seed oil can be a viable alternative that has an abundance of health benefits right from reducing the risk of heart disease to alleviating the symptoms of menopause.
- Construction: Hempcrete is a vegetal concrete sourced from Hemp Shivs that is fast gaining repute as a natural, thermally insulating alternative to synthetic concrete. It is bound with lime before being used as a fill. It is being developed, used and promoted by governments in many parts of Europe. In the United States, it is slowly gaining repute as a building material that has a low environmental impact. Pre-fabricated blocks of Hempcrete are replacing conventional building materials in the post Hurricane-Katrina era, where builders are looking for sustainable, renewable materials. There is a staggering amount of research being conducted that sheds light on Hempcrete’s effectiveness as a building material. This indicates that it is far from a voguish trend.
- CBD: With CBD becoming the new buzzword for good health, the industrial hemp market is predicted to touch $ 26.6 billion by the year 2025. CBD products are sweeping across markets and sectors with potential applications in healthcare, wellness, skincare, and pet care to name a few. CBD Oil alone is an entire industry that relies heavily on Hemp. As more research is conducted, it may well replace many conventional treatment methods that rely heavily on big pharma.
- Plastic: Researchers who have for long been seeking a viable alternative to non-degradable plastics dependent on fossil fuels, may have found the perfect solution in Hemp plastic. Hemp plastic is sourced from hemp fiber and offers nearly all the features of synthetic plastic. The biggest difference though is that bioplastic is completely degradable and recyclable. It will not linger at the bottom of the ocean for millions of years polluting water and killing marine life. It will not pile up in landfills either. While it will be years before we see mass-produced 100% pure hemp plastic, early research indicates that bioplastics like Hemp plastic are the future.
- Phytoremediation: One of the unique uses and benefits of growing hemp is Phytoremediation. In other words, it can clean the soil by absorbing heavy metals and other pollutants, working like a filtration system. Yet, the yield or the quality of the product does not get affected by the contaminants in the soil. Trees like Oak possess this ability. But Hemp is one of the fastest-growing crops that has this property.
- Biofuel: Our excessive dependence on fossil fuels is causing far-reaching, permanent damage to the environment and scientists have been working for decades to find renewable biofuels. Hemp fits the bill perfectly. Hemp sourced bio-diesel can be used in any diesel engine and even stored like conventional diesel. The remainder of the plant can be used to produce Ethanol that can be added to gasoline. While it may not be the be-all, end-all solution that we seek, it can work well with existing technologies to reduce our dependence on limited fuel sources.
Can you smoke hemp? Does it get you high?
Yes, and No.
Yes, you can smoke it. No, it won’t get you high.
Industrial Hemp has less than 0.3% of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, the cannabinoid that gives Cannabis it’s psychoactive effect.
That’s not sufficient to cause the high that you get when you smoke, vape or ingest pot.
Having said that, Smoking hemp rolls or joints is a new trend that is fast gaining popularity among users in the United States.
There is some research that shows that smoking may actually increase the bioavailability of CBD since it gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
So, if you are using it for pain relief or for reducing anxiety, you may find that it will kick in a lot sooner than using CBD oil or edibles.
But the long term effects of smoke may just be as severe as smoking cigarettes. So it’s a line that you should tread with caution. Until there’s more conclusive evidence about the safety of smoking hemp, you are much better off using CBD oil or any other product that has a high concentration of CBD.