Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a fiber and oil seed crop with a wide variety of uses. Hemp fibers have been used to manufacture hundreds of products that include fiber for injected/molded composite materials, twine, paper, construction materials, carpeting, and clothing. Seeds have been used in making industrial oils, cosmetics, medicines, and food. This fiber crop also has potential as a cellulosic ethanol biofuel. .In addition, hemp contains compounds known as cannabinoids that show promise in treating certain health problems.
How is Hemp Different than Marijuana?
Hemp and marijuana are two different varieties of Cannabis sativa L., a flowering herb indigenous to many parts of the world. “Marijuana” is cultivated for high levels of THC, which is concentrated mostly in the flowers and trichomes of the plant. Industrial hemp is cultivated for its fiber, and has almost undetectable levels of THC and comparatively higher levels of CBD. Hemp has been grown and cultivated worldwide for thousands of years for industrial and medical purposes, making useful items like rope, clothing, sails, paper, and thousands of other products. Hemp will not make you “high” and, in fact, hemp contains almost every dietary essential we can’t make ourselves.
The industrial hemp plant—although it contains little, if any, THC—has fallen victim to its close resemblance to marijuana. Other than a brief period of time during World War II, hemp has not been grown in the US since the 1930s—with the exception of a USDA field grown in 1994 in Imperial Valley, California.
