This week we discuss Washington and Arizona legislature updates and new Hemp acreage numbers for 2018 are in! Plus, Martha Stewart’s new interest in Hemp.
Author Archives: David Farmer
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March 5, 2019Podcast: 5 Minute Hempcast- Week of March 5, 2019
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October 22, 2018
Podcast: The 5 Minute Hemp Newscast-Week of October 18, 2018
In this week’s update we have more news about the Farm Bill, huge legalization news out of Canada, and new Hemp Industry projections from a leading publication in the Cannabis Industry.
If you enjoy receiving a brief synopsis of the Industry’s news on a weekly basis, please subscribe to our podcast anywhere you download podcasts, including iTunes and Spotify!
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October 22, 2018
Podcast: The 5 Minute Hemp Newscast-Week of October 5, 2018
In this inaugural episode of the The 5 Minute Hemp News Podcast, we discuss the 2018 Farm Bill, updates to legalization in Michigan, and also the possibility of CBD in outer space.
If you enjoy receiving hemp updates in a simple, short podcast, please subscribe and receive updates every week on iTunes or wherever you download your podcasts. Just search “5 minute hemp news”. Thanks.
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July 11, 2018Does Hemp Contain CBD?
In Short: Yes, it does.
Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of confusion around the issue of hemp and CBD. This is in part due to the gray area of CBD legality and also a general misunderstanding about CBD in the mind of the general public. So, the aim of this post is to help you become a better consumer and discern amongst the wide variety of products available in retails stores and even the largest of online stores, Amazon.
Hemp vs. Marijuana
To start, we must first define Hemp and it’s probably easiest to do that by comparing it to its close varietal, Cannabis/Marijuana. For starters, they are the same plant, Cannabis Sativa. Cannabis Sativa is unique because it is rich in over 65 Cannabinoids. These molecular structures are essentially neurotransmitters that work in conjunction with your immune and endocrine systems to regulate your body.
While research is fast arriving by the day, we do know that some of these cannabinoids have profound impacts on the treatment of pain, inflammation, stress, anxiety, CTE, depression, insomnia, digestive irregularities, epilepsy, and much more. Of the 65 known cannabinoids in Cannabis Sativa, the most most widely known and researched are CBD (Cannabidiol) and THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol).
Why is Hemp Legal?
So Hemp and Marijuana contain both THC and CBD, in addition to many other active cannabinoid compounds. The distinction comes in terms of the concentration. Just as farmers have engineered certain fruits to omit seed production, for hundreds of years farmers have been actively changing the genomes and phenotypes of the Cannabis Sativa plant, resulting in many different varieties that are often optimized for a specific purpose.
As a result, hemp is merely Cannabis Sativa that basically contains trace amounts or zero THC. Conversely, certain hemp varieties have also been engineered to produce massive concentrations of CBD while still omitting THC from the final output. Plants that contain between 0.00%-0.03% THC are classified as Hemp.
How do I know if my Hemp products contain CBD in them?
Now that we know why Hemp is different, how do we know if it contains CBD? Unfortunately this question is not so easy to answer. At the moment, CBD or hemp are not regulated by the FDA, leading to differences in labeling practices. The best way to find out if a hemp product contains CBD is by checking the bottle ingredients and/or viewing the description on the website.
Often times, you will see descriptions like “Aerial Parts” or “Full-spectrum”, which indicates that the hemp is extracted from flower or the hemp contains “the full spectrum” of cannabinoids, respectively. Also, many producers will indicate a dosage in milligrams, even if it doesn’t expressly state “CBD”. You can be confident the “milligrams” alludes to CBD. And while this information may be neglected on the label, this is most likely done to avoid controversy with regulatory authorities who are attempting to treat hemp in the same category as marijuana. However, it is entirely possible to have hemp extracts that contain no CBD or THC, so its important to do your research.
“Often times, you will see descriptions like ‘Aerial Parts’ or ‘Full-spectrum,’ which indicates the hemp is extracted from flowering parts or the hemp contains ‘the full spectrum’ of cannabinoids (all 65), respectively.”
Conclusion: Contact the company you purchased your product from.
In the end, Hemp-derived CBD products, while very effective, are often also very expensive. The best way to be sure if a hemp product contains CBD is to contact the company directly and ask them. Many hemp products do contain CBD and there is little difference between the effectiveness of hemp-derived CBD versus marijuana-derived CBD. For this reason, we do recommend consumers source hemp-derived CBD products for their healthcare as its the only way to know you are in compliance with current law.
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July 11, 2018Is Hemp-Derived CBD Legal? Mitch McConnell Thinks it Ought to Be.
Farm Bill Amendment Passes in Senate. Upcoming House Vote Could End All Controversy Regarding Hemp-Derived CBD.
There was some very exciting news over the past few weeks concerning hemp and CBD. With the full support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate voted overwhelmingly (86-11) to approve an amendment to the Farm Bill that would officially recognize Hemp as legal to grow and cultivate in all U.S. States and territories. Even more promising, against a huge public outcry, the Senate committee opted to ignore language that would have carved out hemp derivatives, such as CBD extracts and hemp-derived CBD, as illegal and still subject to the Controlled Substances Act. While the House still needs to approve the Bill before it goes into law, the lopsided support in favor of the bill bodes well for its chances of being approved by Congress.
Industrial Hemp, classified as being a strain of the Cannabis Sativa plant that is under .03% THC concentration, is legal and is already used in a wide array of industrial applications and plastics, amongst other medicinal applications. When congress outlined THC under the Controlled Substances Act, it made no mention of CBD or any other cannabinoids for that matter (of which Cannabis contains 65 cannabinoids; THC and CBD are merely two of them). However, in 2016 a DEA rule interpretation chose to treat hemp extracts and derivatives as being “marijuana extracts,” even if they were derived from legal hemp.
Of course, treating hemp-derived CBD as if it were Marijuana is tantamount to regulating a bottle of balsamic vinegar the same as a bottle wine. Yes, one is derived from the other, but to even a child they are not the same product. Derivatives of legal products cannot be interpreted as illegal unless expressly outlined by Congress.
“Of course, treating hemp-derived CBD as if it were Marijuana is tantamount to regulating a bottle of balsamic vinegar the same as a bottle wine.”
This new legislation will hopefully bring closure to a long running dispute over the legality of Hemp-derived CBD and other hemp-based extracts. It’s refreshing to see so much support and money lining up behind the Hemp industry as producers everywhere struggle against constant stigma and public push-back on this issue.
But this problem belongs to producers and retailers alone. Consumers, on the other hand, have never had such a plethora of CBD and hemp products at their disposal and more states are outright legalizing it every year. These early adopters are helping to usher in an era of acceptance, one where the industrial and medicinal benefits of CBD are widely known to all.
Regardless of what congress ultimately chooses to do, the best thing for consumers to do is to keep buying CBD products and voting with their dollars, which will generate hundreds of millions in tax revenues across the nation. If Congress won’t follow public support, they’ll eventually follow the money.