The passing of the Farm Bill in 2018 marked a return of the hemp market in the US, and a beginning of a return to sanity around the plant with the scientific name of Cannabis Sativa. Now we can catch up and move forward with hemp and Cannabis, casualties of harmful government policies that were ironically intended to protect our citizens. As has been well documented, Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp in Virginia in the 1700’s, mainly for the plant fiber used to make sails, ropes, textiles and other products. But since the 1930’s, our right to cultivate and use this plant were severely suppressed.
So, what is hemp? And is it different from Cannabis Sativa? Cannabis Sativa is the scientific name, i.e. the genus and species of the plant that is also called hemp. For the purpose of allowing cultivation under specified conditions, the government has defined hemp as Cannabis Sativa that contains less than 0.3% delta-9 THC content in the flowers of the female plants.
Initially hemp was a commonly used named for Cannabis Sativa in all of its forms. However, with the government campaign of Cannabis suppression, Cannabis was demonized. Ironically, the black market which has existed since the prohibition of Cannabis, in addition to all of the numerous negative and harmful effects on society, has resulted in the tendency of Cannabis strains to become more concentrated with THC. The designation of hemp now is largely in place to allow cultivation of hemp so long as the concentration of delta-9 THC is limited.
Now is the time that other cannabinoids such as CBG and CBD can be better known and understood. Knowledge and wisdom helps to overcome fear and ignorance, and so it is time to re-discover and re-imagine Cannabis Sativa and put in a proper context and place. Bottom line, all hemp is Cannabis Sativa, but not all Cannabis Sativa plants meet the classification criteria as hemp.
How far back does man’s history with Cannabis extend? History and archeology keeps pushing the date back. Most people agree that Cannabis has been under human cultivation for at least 5,000 years. More recent discoveries suggest it has been 10,000 years or more.
In addition to its value for plant fiber, it has been incredibly useful to man as source of food, cooking oil and as plant medicine. No wonder then that many proponents of Cannabis point to Genesis 1:29 as evidence that Cannabis was created to be a boon to man. In future blogs we will look into evidence of past uses of Cannabis, as well as potential uses supported by current research. We are already in an era where research avenues and money are increasing especially in the field of medicine, health and wellness, but also in applications for agricultural and building supplies there is a great potential for improvement of our society and culture. This no doubt comes at a time when green solutions and innovations are needed.
Specifically in wellness, CBD has caught the attention of people looking to take wellness into their own hands, where it should be. So feel free to explore our information and FAQ page and look out for more blogs in the future about this amazing God-given plant and how we can benefit from the cornucopia of products derived from it.
