Q. Why is your hemp grown on family farms?
A. Commitment to the environment is one of the cornerstones of the mission to bring hemp CBD to the world. We believe in sustainable agriculture, and supporting small farmers who want to grow non-GMO crops without chemicals.
Q. Is the hemp grown sustainably?
A. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Hemp is naturally resistant to most pests. Hemp farmers grow their hemp in such a way that there is no need for herbicides or toxic fertilizers, and very little need for the water waste from the kind of irrigation you might see on factory farms. Click here to learn how hemp is traditionally grown.
Q. Is the hemp organic?
A. Our hemp is non-GMO, and is grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. Unfortunately, there isn’t an organic certification process in place for hemp, but they are hopeful that within the next year there will be. Stay tuned!
Q. How is hemp different than marijuana?
A. 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. When you grow “marijuana,” male plants are culled and female plants are cultivated, since the THC content is most abundant in the buds or female part of the plant. “Marijuana” plants are typically grown far apart to avoid possible seeding (from male to female plants), which would lower the THC content in the buds. Industrial hemp, on the other hand, is cultivated for its fiber, and has almost undetectable levels of THC and comparatively higher levels of CBD.
This is partly because hemp is planted close together and therefore has an abundance of seeds (from regular male-female pollination) and grows tall, which is perfect for harvesting fiber from the stalks. 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. Again…hemp will not make you “high.”
Q. Can you grow hemp in the United States?
A. Not yet. 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. This USDA-grown field was the product of the hard work of Christopher (Chris) Boucher. While permits to grow hemp are technically available from the US government, and certain states have passed laws tentatively allowing hemp to be grown as an agricultural commodity, no permit to grow hemp has ever been issued by the DEA. The United States legally imports millions of dollars’ worth of hemp every year—with some estimates as high as $2 billion annually.
Q. If you can’t grow hemp in the USA, how are hemp and hemp-based products legal?
A. Because the FDA considers hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids (like CBD) to be food-based products, no legal restrictions on their importation, production and consumption exist in the United States and in most of the industrialized world click here. Our country’s Founding Fathers would likely be appalled to learn that the US government banned the cultivation of industrial hemp in America. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were all hemp farmers. It was even once mandated that hemp be grown, and one could even pay taxes with hemp. In July, 2013 the Congressional Research Service compiled an excellent report on industrial hemp, “Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity”. Click here ( https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32725.pdf )