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Hemp and Marijuana: Myths & Realities
David P. West
for the North American Industrial Hemp Council
Surely no member of the vegetable
kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp. For too many years, emotion
- not reason - has guided our policy toward this crop. And nowhere have emotions
run hotter than in the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and
marijuana. This paper is intended to inform that debate by offering scientific
evidence, so that farmers, policy makers, manufacturers, and the general public
can distinguish between myth and reality.
Botanically, the genus Cannabis is
composed of several variants. Although there has been a long-standing debate
among taxonomists about how to classify these variants into species, applied
plant breeders generally embrace a biochemical method to classify variants along
utilitarian lines. Cannabis is the only plant genus that contains the
unique class of molecular compounds called cannabinoids. Many cannabinoids have
been identified, but two preponderate: THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient
of Cannabis, and CBD, which is an antipsychoactive ingredient. One type
of Cannabis is high in the psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the
antipsychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. This type is popularly known as marijuana.
Another type is high in CBD and low in THC. Variants of this type are called
industrial hemp.
In the United States, the debate
about the relationship between hemp and marijuana has been diminished by the
dissemination of many statements that have little scientific support. This
report examines in detail ten of the most pervasive and pernicious of these
myths.
Myth: United States law has
always treated hemp and marijuana the same.
Reality: The history of
federal drug laws clearly shows that at one time the U.S. government understood
and accepted the distinction between hemp and marijuana.
Myth: Smoking industrial hemp
gets a person high.
Reality: The THC levels
in industrial hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it.
Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD,
that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only not
marijuana; it could be called "antimarijuana."
Myth: Even though THC levels
are low in hemp, the THC can be extracted and concentrated to produce a powerful
drug.
Reality: Extracting THC
from industrial hemp and further refining it to eliminate the preponderance of
CBD would require such an expensive, hazardous, and time-consuming process that
it is extremely unlikely anyone would ever attempt it, rather than simply
obtaining high-THC marijuana instead.
Myth: Hemp fields would be
used to hide marijuana plants.
Reality: Hemp is grown
quite differently from marijuana. Moreover, it is harvested at a different time
than marijuana. Finally, cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana
plants would significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana plant.
Myth: Legalizing hemp while
continuing the prohibition on marijuana would burden local police forces.
Reality: In countries
where hemp is grown as an agricultural crop, the police have experienced no such
burdens.
Myth: Feral hemp must be
eradicated because it can be sold as marijuana.
Reality: Feral hemp, or
ditchweed, is a remnant of the hemp once grown on more than 400,000 acres by
U.S. farmers. It contains extremely low levels of THC, as low as .05 percent. It
has no drug value, but does offer important environmental benefits as a nesting
habitat for birds. About 99 percent of the "marijuana" being
eradicated by the federal government - at great public expense - is this
harmless ditchweed. Might it be that the drug enforcement agencies want to
convince us that ditchweed is hemp in order to protect their large eradication
budgets?
Myth: Those who want to
legalize hemp are actually seeking a backdoor way to legalize marijuana.
Reality: It is true
that many of the first hemp stores were started by industrial-hemp advocates who
were also in favor of legalizing marijuana. However, as the hemp industry has
matured, it has come to be dominated by those who see hemp as the agricultural
and industrial crop that it is, and see hemp legalization as a different issue
than marijuana legalization. In any case, should we oppose a very good idea
simply because some of those who support it also support other ideas with which
we disagree?
Myth: Hemp oil is a source of
THC.
Reality: Hemp oil is an
increasingly popular product, used for an expanding variety of purposes. The
washed hemp seed contains no THC at all. The tiny amounts of THC contained in
industrial hemp are in the glands of the plant itself. Sometimes, in the
manufacturing process, some THC- and CBD-containing resin sticks to the seed,
resulting in traces of THC in the oil that is produced. The concentration of
these cannabinoids in the oil is infinitesimal. No one can get high from using
hemp oil.
Myth: Legalizing hemp would
send the wrong message to children.
Reality: It is the
current refusal of the drug enforcement agencies to distinguish between an
agricultural crop and a drug crop that is sending the wrong message to children.
Myth: Hemp is not economically
viable, and should therefore be outlawed.
Reality: The market for
hemp products is growing rapidly. But even if it were not, when has a crop ever
been outlawed simply because government agencies thought it would be
unprofitable to grow?
The complete text of this report is available on the NAIHC web site. This report is the first in a series of white papers produced by:
North American Industrial Hemp Council
Post Office Box 259329
Madison, Wisconsin 53725-9329
Tel: (608) 224-5135
E-mail: sholtea@wheel.datcp.state.wi.us
website: www.naihc.org/
Dr. West can be contacted by e-mail at: davewest@pressenter.com