I’ve got good news. Contrary to popular belief and boomer logic, I just found out cannabis is not a bad guy after all. And when I say cannabis, I’m not talking about marijuana (aka weed/ganja), in fact, marijuana hardly defines cannabis. Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family of Cannabaceae with the main species being Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis.
Which one of these is the infamous marijuana? You may ask. Well, it’s time I break it to you that the answer is None of these. Marijuana is specifically grown in a carefully controlled atmosphere for Medical and recreational use. It is grown specifically to have high THC(we will come to it later) which makes it psychoactive and attractive to the youth. Yes, it was never naturally gifted to us.
But aren’t we here to talk about the good part of cannabis? Here the good part is not about getting high and lousy, it’s about getting healthy! I can now position what today’s newsletter is about, it’s Hemp! A fiber-rich cannabis breed used for body care, clothing, food, and even in the automobile industry! That sounds very publicly accessible and guess what? it is! The hemp kid from the cannabis family is absolutely legal. Let’s know more.
Hemp: High CBD
CBD (Cannabidiol) is a chemical compound which has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-anxiety properties without any psychoactive effects.
Too complex? This means Hemp helps you with Anxiety, Depression, Pain relief, High BP, Obesity, and much more. Isn’t that cool? Also, CBD does not contribute to the addiction part. The other way round, in fact,
CV Sciences on April 3 this year announced receiving a patent for their formula for using CBD to treat Tobacco addiction(
reference).
Hemp: Low THC
THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the chemical responsible for marijuana’s psychological effects. Which makes the user stoned — followed up by an uncontrollable desire to eat, also known as “the munchies”. I’ve been told this is what helps the artists write rap music.
An average batch of marijuana contains some 15% - 25% THC.
To remain legal in the majority of the countries, the hemp must remain below the maximum THC level of 0.3%, essentially making it impossible to feel any psychoactive effect or get “high”.
Noticeable differences between Hemp vs Marijuana
Well, to be honest, not much.
From the outside, all the cannabis breeds look more or less the same, and with hybrids being produced among the species make these guys even more similar on the outside.
However, hemp leaves tend to be longer and skinnier than marijuana. But that doesn’t help most law enforcers to distinguish between the two. In the 1970s, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” and created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It also unintentionally outlawed one of the world’s oldest domesticated crops, hemp(
reference). Don’t you worry though, this has been fixed, Hemp is legal now, I didn’t lie about it.
It’s the chemical composition of THC that sets hemp apart from marijuana and gives way to the cannabis’ good faces for public use(
reference).
The End
No really, this one has already crossed my unspoken limit for a single story. For today, I’ve spoken what I wanted to and I’ll just end it with a visual from
CBD Origin showing major uses of hemp.