Hemp is a form of cannabis that is traditionally used for creating textiles and other materials, and today is also used for CBD products. Since the passing of the Farm Bill in 2018, hemp with less than 0.3% THC can now widely be grown across the US for CBD products. However, each state still has its own laws regarding CBD.
“I bought this hemp-derived CBD from my local grocery store.”
What is hemp?
Hemp is merely a type of plant in the Cannabaceae family. The difference between hemp and cannabis is purely legal in the US—hemp is defined as having less than 0.3% THC.
How can hemp be used?
Today, industrial hemp is primarily grown to extract CBD oil from it for a variety of CBD products, including tinctures, capsules, topicals, and more. These hemp derivatives have led to an explosion of legal CBD products in the US. Many of these products can now be found in grocery stores, drug stores, and corner stores.
Hemp-derived CBD products typically are not tested because the 2018 Farm Bill does not require them to be, so it can be difficult to know what you are actually getting. To get lab-tested CBD products, you will need to buy them from a licensed dispensary in an adult-use cannabis state.
Hemp can be used to make a variety of industrial products. Traditionally, it has been used to make textiles and clothing, but hemp can also be used to make rope, paper, bioplastics, biofuel, and even a concrete-like substance (hempcrete).
Hemp can also be used to make food, specifically hemp seeds. Hemp seeds are high in iron and can be eaten raw or ground up, or can be pressed into an oil.