Hemp is a member of the mulberry family and is both highly controversial and widely misunderstood, especially by the mainstream media. It has been subject to a campaign of misinformation by big corporations and our government who have a vested $ interest $ in its prohibition. Industrial hemp and marijuana are both classified by taxonomists as Cannabis sativa, a species with hundreds of varieties, like grapes in wine. Industrial hemp is bred to maximize fiber, seed and/or oil, while marijuana varieties seek to maximize THC (delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol) in the flowers. Current laws regulating hemp cultivation in the European Union (EU) and Canada use 0.03% THC as the dividing line between industrial and potentially drug-producing cannabis. THC levels for marijuana are much higher than hemp, and are reported to average about 10%-30%, or greater. An individual will never fail a drug test after consuming industrial hemp as there is not even enough THC to even be stored in the body. In new studies hemp has higher levels of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive part of marijuana, which might even stop some of the effects of THC. Johnson, Renée, "Hemp As An Agricultural Commodity," Congressional Research Service (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, July 24, 2013), pp. 1-2.
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