Difference Between Hemp and CBD Oil

What is the difference Between Hemp Oil and CBD Oil?

Before we can really answer that question, we need to define what each one is, and is not. Both sets of facts are very important for you to make a good consumer decision and to know exactly what you are getting when you buy products that are labeled hemp oil, CBD oil, or full spectrum CBD oil, as they are not the same, equivalent, nor do they provide the same potential for benefits*. While both hemp seed oil and CBD oil are healthy to use and can be good for you*, they come from very different parts of the plant, have different chemical properties, do different things, and are used differently.

Hemp oil, which is most often hemp seed oil, is mostly sourced from Cannabis sativa plant seed, i.e. industrial hemp. Hemp seed oil is a regulated product, and is tested by the FDA and other regulatory agencies for both THC and CBD levels. It does not, however, contain either of those cannabinoids. Laboratory tests have shown repeatedly throughout history that there are no cannabinoids present in seed obtained from industrial hemp, and the hemp seed oil you buy will not get you high, or even feeling good. It might however get you a little healthier.

So What is Hemp Oil? I’ve Been Paying a Lot For It!

Hemp oil is generally defined as the oil obtained by pressing or processing hemp seed, and does not come from the rest of the hemp plant. While it is nutritionally rich in Omega oils, it does not contain CBD, the cannabinoid that works with our bodily endocannabinoid system. The correct term is hemp seed oil, and much is being sold mislabeled at ridiculously high prices. It is great to cook with, though!

Does Hemp Oil That is Seed Based Contain CBD Oil?

No, it does not. Period. Despite what a lot of companies would like you to think.

That is the sad part, too, as some – many in some arenas – of the products being sold as CBD oil are hemp seed oil and nothing more. Sometimes this is due to where the product is being sold and trying to deal with uneducated or out of date rules. More often than not, though, it is unscrupulous companies trying to sell you snake oil. There is no CBD in hemp seed oil, and you will not get any of the potential results or health and wellness benefits* you are seeking from it. If you see hemp extract from aerial parts, or something to that effect, you may be getting some CBD, so the next question is look for a concentration, like 300 mg. Lots of hemp seed oil is merely labeled hemp oil, so check.

So If Hemp Seed Oil Has No CBD, then what is Full Spectrum Hemp Oil I Keep Seeing?

Like we said, hemp oil is hemp seed oil in nearly all cases. It has no CBD or any other cannabinoids in it. It does have some nutritional value and potential for limited health benefits*.

Before we explain what full spectrum oil is, though, we need to make a “legal disclaimer” about the differences. CBD taken from Cannabis, i.e. the plant that produces psychoactive THC, is legal in states that have passed medical and recreational usage laws. CBD hemp oil, on the other hand, is legal in all 50 states under the 2014 Farm Bill that was signed into law December 20, 2018. While this sounds like hair splitting, it is not when it comes to what you are actually getting in the products you are purchasing. Too many companies are selling hemp seed oil and labeling it hemp oil, hoping to dupe customers into thinking they are getting CBD oil, which they are not. Some are selling hemp seed oil with “hemp extract”… well, hemp seed oil is hemp extract. Hemp oil might be CBD oil, but certainly not all hemp oil is CBD oil. You need to read the labels carefully and if there is not clear disclosure, it does not state CBD and content, full aerial parts of plants and full spectrum, wide, total, or complete spectrum and full bioavailability, set the bottle down and move on.

However, if you are seeing any of the above on your bottle of CBD oil’s label or in an advertisement or posting, there are a couple of things that might be happening. First, the company may be dealing with online sales vehicles that still follow the grey, out of date CSA rules, and they have to label their products to comply. Turn the bottle over. There are a couple of things to look for. First of all, Full Spectrum means that the whole plant is used in extraction but it is basically raw.. If there is one word about cold press extraction, Omega-3, -6, or -9 fatty acids, isolate, or anything like it on the label, you are dealing with hemp seed oil and not CBD, or in the case of isolate, a refined, limited product made with harsh chemicals, no matter what they claim. CBD oil does not have the same nutritional analysis as hemp seed oil, as it contains no Omegas. If it has aerial parts, total, complete, wide spectrum, deoxylated, or anything indicating it has complete hemp extract in it, it probably is CBD oil. Next check the concentration to make sure it looks like an industry standard measurement, and that both concentration and package weight or content is listed. Any reputable company will tell you both those figures. You can quickly see what we are talking about on any of our Vid labels.

Vid 300 mg label here

Hemp seed oil has to be cold pressed and CBD oil pretty much cannot be in order to gain the best benefit from the compounds.   CO2 or an alcohol process extracts it, and any residual materials are distilled out. (That is how we do it here at Vid, food grade ethanol – grain alcohol – that is all completely removed through low temperature distillation.) Hemp seed oil is very inexpensive to produce compared to CBD oil, and you can get a quart for under $20.  Or at least, you should be able to. Too often we see hemp oil labeled as CBD that has no CBD in it at all, in fact, they even cut hemp seed oil with coconut oil or grapeseed oil and sell it for the price near that of CBD oil to hood-wink the consumer into thinking they are getting a real bargain.

 You aren’t. You are getting over charged and under delivered, simple as that. 

 Look for words that describe the wide range of components, aerial parts,  and the words CBD and a recognized carrier like MCT or coconut oil on the label and in all the images on the label. We use MCT – medium-chain triglyceride organic coconut oil. It is a stable product with a two-year shelf life, making our Vid-CBD oil very stable to ship, and is nutritionally dense, healthy carrier oil.  Check out the website to see what it shows. Legitimate companies are not afraid to show their products and how to find where they are sold, with analysis, and how to get ahold of them on their websites. Honest CBD and hemp product companies want you to know the truth, and fly above the radar, just like Vid does.

 

If there is no CBD, is Hemp Seed Oil Good For You?

Hemp seed oil is protein dense, high in polyunsaturated fats, and is one of the known sources of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids that are essential to the human diet. The Omega fatty acids occur in a ratio that is considered by many to be optimal for utilization in humans. Hemp seed oil is also high in Vitamin E, an antioxidant compound that helps fight free radicals. It is a staple in the cosmetics industry, is used for cooking, and in biofuel.

You can buy hemp seed oil in most health food stores or even the gourmet cooking section of your local grocery. Some people use it in place of olive oil and in smoothies. Hemp seed oil is also high in gamma linoleic acid, which may help you lose weight*. Of course, any oil substitution must be accompanied by a healthy diet in moderation and exercise to achieve healthy, if any, weight loss.

What is Hemp Seed Oil Good For?

Hemp seed has high oil content and is cold processed to retain the nutritional value of the seed. It is greenish in color, and it needs to be kept refrigerated once opened. (If you do not refrigerate it, hemp seed oil will go rancid in about two weeks.) It blends well for salad dressings. Hemp seed oil is unique in that it does not convert its polyunsaturated fats into trans fats upon heating. It does, however, have a low to medium flash point, so for cooking it is recommended to blend it with avocado oil (twice the flash point of olive oil) at a ratio of 1:10 to gain the healthy benefits of cooking with both.

Uses for Hemp Oil Include Industrial

Hemp oil is also one of the original biofuels. Henry Ford designed his “Tin Lizzie” Model T to run on either gasoline or hemp seed oil. Hemp seed is plentiful, cheap, and is used to make lubricants, paint, plastics, biodegradable products, many health and beauty compounds ranging from shampoo and conditioner to soap, and is a common replacement for petroleum products.

Make Sure When You Buy Pure CBD Oil You are Getting Organic CBD Oil, Not Hemp Seed Oil

Vid believes in educating their customers so they know what they are getting. Be a conscious consumer, whether it is rolling the box over to see what is in your oil or vape cartridge, or checking the ingredient label on your gum or pain rub. What you put in, or on, your body is what goes through your body and has a lot of potential to help or harm your health*. Look for organic full spectrum CBD, and clear labeling for content, percentages, and counts. You will be glad you did.

All Vid products are clearly labeled, with contents, volumes, and detailed dosage instructions included. We want our customers to know that we value you as a customer and want you to get the best full spectrum CBD product for your money.

You have our word on that.

Med Hemp vs Med Cann

What is the difference between medicinal hemp and medical Cannabis?

While both hemp, a term generally used to describe Cannabis grown for industrial use, and Cannabis grown for medical or recreational purposes, are from the same basic plant, the uses and traits it is grown for, strains cultivated, and specialty breeding differ pretty significantly. Most of it has to do with two things, the type of cannabinoids and terpenes present, and the growth form it takes.

Hemp is a general term used for Cannabis plants that are grown for purposes other than medical and recreational use. The difference is generally gauged by the amount of THC content in the dried plant. Hemp must be at or below the federal maximum of 0.3% THC content. Medical Cannabis has THC content above that, most often well above that number. As a rule of thumb, hemp grown under organic conditions and processed with meticulous attention to retaining compounds similar to the processing done by Vid can be called medicinal hemp or medicinal grade total sphere hemp. Hemp contains the vital cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids that may benefit your wellness and well-being*. That medicinal hemp is what we make pure CBD oil from, a wide spectrum product that contains as extensive as possible a variety of compounds as can be found in hemp.

Medical Cannabis is generally grown for the THC content in some ratio to CBD, CBN, or other cannabinoid compounds, with the THC being the primary concern and in most strains at a much higher concentration many times over than CBD. Medical and recreational growers also pay close attention to certain terpenes and flavonoids to enhance the fragrance, smell, or synergistic response the body has to particular conditions affecting what the body needs help with* including pain, neuropathy, nausea, depression, seizures, sleep issues, anxiety, addiction withdrawal, appetite, PTSD and other challenges*. Thousands of projects are ongoing to learn more each day about how medical Cannabis may help humans in healthier ways than are conventionally available. As information and studies become available, watch the Learn: Wellness News feature under our blog area on this website. We will share what we feel is well founded, substantiated, and replicable, all standards for good, solid scientific study and research.

You have our word on that.

Difference Between Hemp and Cannabis

So what is the difference between hemp and Cannabis?

Least we sound really confusing, there isn’t any, but there is… sort of.

Let us explain.

Both industrial hemp grown for total spectrum CBD oil and nearly 25,000 other uses (holy moley, yes, you read that right) and Cannabis grown for medical and recreational use are from the genus Cannabis. The industry is working hard to eliminate the term “marihuana”, “marijuana”, and others as they are not correct and were originally invented words directed at and meant as a slur to the language the words came from. That is why at Vid you will always see us refer to hemp as the plant CBD oil is extracted from, and Cannabis as either the plant when we are talking about the science of the plant, or when we are discussing the forms used for medical and recreational (where legal) purposes. Both are Cannabis, but different species look different, grow different, and have different chemical and physical makeup and properties. For example, if you tried to make rope from a plant grown for medical use, you probably would end up with something mushy, not strong, and not able to hold together and if you were really lucky, a couple of feet long. It is kind of like some people are good at playing baseball and others are great on guitar, but they are still all humans – Homo sapiens (homo – human being, sapien – wise). They look alike, but are just different.

The science of how they name things is actually pretty neat. It is called taxonomy (taxis – arrangement, nomia – distribution). A cool thing to know about Cannabis is it is part of the Order Rosales, which is just what you would guess, the group that roses belong to. Other members of Rosales are nettle, Russian olive, mulberry, elm, and buckthorn. The trait they have in common that puts them all in the same group as roses is they all bloom. The family name or next break down in taxonomy is Cannabaceae (which is where hemp gets its name, canna – cane or reed). There are over 170 members of this family, including hemp, hops (think the bitter flavor in beer, also the closest cousin to hemp) and hackberry. What makes a plant part of this family is a single seed and a petalless flower, and the plant either stands erect (upright, like hemp) or are climbers like hops. Most of the plants in this family come in both male and female plants, just like hemp. In hemp the male flowering parts are small, the female flowering parts are usually much larger, and often require darkness to begin to create flowers and if pollinated, seeds. All the hemp plants grown for Vid CBD oil are female plants grown non-pollinated. This allows more nutrition to go into the actual plant, producing a more desirable cannabinoid content and profile.

This is where a drawing showing the three primary species needs to go

The kind of plant is Genus Cannabis, but there are different kinds or species of Cannabis, such as indica, sativa, and ruderalis. They look different, just like there are a lot of different roses. Sativa plants tend to be tall, branching out in the top one-third of the plant and not heavily filled in. Their leaves tend to be long thin fingers, usually 9 in total count on a leaf, and are most likely the common picture of a “pot leaf” you envision. Sativa flowers are a lot leafier for the most part, and sativa is generally what is raised for industrial hemp and is most often heavier in CBD content. Indica plants tend to be short, fat, full, flush, and resemble fat triangular holiday trees. Their leaves are usually much fatter fingers, and much shorter in length, with seven on a leaf. The plants are often darker green as a rule. Indica flowers are fatter, you see a few little leaves sticking out, and they are often dusty looking and may have orangish, reddish, gold, lime green or purple tones. Indica varieties are often grown for medical and recreational use. Ruderalis you probably have seen in ditches, places where soil has been disturbed, or where not much else will grow. It is short, spindly, with far less leaves that most, often having three medium fingers with two very small side leaves at the base. It is also the least cannabinoid rich of the species, but has good characteristics including that it self-flowers, or does not need exact lengths of darkness to set flowers. Because of this and its ability to hold up well to variable weather conditions, it is often used in cross breeding new strains of Cannabis to strengthen the new cultivar.

Over the centuries hemp has been grown for many different purposes, and humans have crossbred different plants to achieve different good traits, such as stronger fiber for rope, or softer fiber for cloth. This crossbreeding is how today’s growers achieve the “strains” of Cannabis that contain different terpenes at various levels, smell or taste differently when consumed (think roses, some smell good, some don’t, some are red, some are yellow or white or orange or pink or even green), high levels of CBD and other cannabinoids and other compounds. This has been done for the terpene and CBD content in hemp more than anything else, and some strains of hemp used for full spectrum CBD oil are as much as 40% CBD in overall cannabinoid content upon extraction.

The differences in Cannabis is also why there is a lot of misidentification done when people see plants in a flower bed or beside the road that they think are “weed”. Often it is cleome, a flower, or other wildflower, ragweed, or other plants, and only occasionally do they find the results of someone, or something such as a bird, that has errantly deposited Cannabis seed. Need cleome pict RH read

The one exception might be a state to remain unnamed where in the 1950’s the state highway department found this marvelous plant that had a great root system, would grow anywhere, would grow in sun or shade, drought or deluge, and they could get the seed dang near free from government surplus. They promptly seeded the embankments, roadway ditches, everywhere the state had to maintain right of way for erosion control and keep it looking nice. And you guessed it, they had planted the whole state in “wildwood weed.” It was hemp, but those were the days when anything hemp was illegal, and they had to tear out every plant using state prison inmates for labor. It was not before it had gone to seed, however, which hemp can do in just several short months in good soil. The soil was some of the richest in the country, and weather conditions that year were near perfect. Needless to say, the state was highly embarrassed when their mistake got pointed out, nearly a year later. Nearly 70 years later there is still an abundance of “wildwood weed” if you know what to look for off state roadway properties. Which state? We’re not telling.

You have our word on that.

Everything Hemp

Everything Hemp You Ever Wanted To Know

To really understand the big picture of why cannabidiol oil or CBD oil as a product from hemp is so important, you have to take a look at hemp’s history and what else hemp is good for. Hemp is one of the natural wonders of the world that has been attacked time and again due to the high number of products it can be used for, the availability of a clean fuel source, and its ability to help the environment. We know, that sounds pretty illogical to go after something with that many benefits, but lobbying usually isn’t logical or good for the rest of us.

Much of the attack on hemp was financial in nature, or utilized confusion and ignorance while flat out ignoring facts regarding the difference between Cannabis sativa or sub. afghanica or sub. Ruderalis or indica that is higher than the allowable > 0.3% THC (9-delta tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive agent in Cannabis) and Cannabis sativa (industrial hemp) that is < 0.3% THC and is not psychoactive. In other words, industrial hemp will not and cannot get you “high”. Hemp is one of the commodities listed in both NAFTA and GATT, and until the 2014 Farm Bill was signed in 2018, the US was the only industrialized nation in the world where it was illegal to grow industrial hemp. There are over 25,000 different products made from hemp in nearly every manufacturing niche you can bring to mind. Hemp is a green, sustainable agricultural product and the entire plant can be utilized. A valuable biofuel source, hemp’s only reason for not being used for fuel is the fact it brings higher prices as a food commodity and is in high demand, and farmers make more money selling for other purposes. There is not much to dislike or disapprove of when it comes to industrial hemp.

So what is Hemp?

Often referred to as industrial hemp, hemp is a strain of the Cannabis sativa plant. Cannabis has been cultivated from wild stock for thousands of years in many parts of the world, extensively for fiber and feed. The fiber, softer than jute, makes strong rope but softer feeling cloth. There is archaeological evidence of hemp being used for spinning and weaving as far back as 10,000 years ago. Hemp cultivars grown for industrial use in feed, textiles, biodegradable plastics, paper, paint, insulation, and biofuel are important agricultural commodities in many parts of the world, and constitute primary export items from several Asian countries.

As a plant, hemp is very fast growing and industrial hemp can reach a height of 10-12’ in a matter of a few months. Tolerant of nearly any kind of soil and drought resistant in the wild, hemp has a root system that allows it to hold material in place. This ability led to it being used many places to stabilize the shoulders of roadways and in highway cuts.

Wild Hemp Was Here to Start With, Right?

Hemp has been around in the U.S. since around 1545, and is believed was brought here from Central America or the Orient. No one really knows, but we do know there are records it was cultivated in Jamestown starting in 1611. We also know that Benjamin Franklin used hemp paper for his printing presses and both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp as a farm crop on their acreages. Hemp was replaced for fiber content in textiles by cotton in the mid 1800’s, as hemp being made into fabric was labor intensive, but continued to be grown for other purposes.

It was in the mid-1800’s that medicinal uses for hemp began to arrive in the U.S. from Mexico. Sadly, it’s historical fact like so many other things from that period that medical Cannabis use coming out of Mexico and Central America tainted the policy towards hemp in later years being that it was not of European origin. Even the name commonly given the psychoactive form of Cannabis, marijuana, was derived as a cultural slur from the root languages it was drawn from. That is why the industry is working very hard to replace marijuana with Cannabis, the correct name of the plant. It is interesting to note that both “hemp” and “Cannabis” have similar words for the plant in nearly every ancient culture around the world, dating back to China, Ancient Persia and beyond.

What is the difference between hemp and Cannabis?

Both hemp and Cannabis, the term generally used to refer to Cannabis sp. containing higher levels of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC as everyone knows it, come from the same basic plant, but different varieties or cultivars. Industrial hemp has a THC level of < 0.3%, and Cannabis that is psychoactive or “gets you high” has a THC content above that number, usually substantially so. If you have a hard time picturing it, think of alcohol in an herbal or spice tincture, then a cocktail. The tincture has a tiny amount that is an ingredient used to get the oil to release from the plant material (i.e. vanilla you cook with), whereas a cocktail will inebriate you at various levels due to significantly more alcohol.

Follow the Money Trail, and You Will Find How Hemp Was Pushed Out of Business

The problem is that both industrial hemp and Cannabis used for recreation look somewhat alike. This “looks like, must be” misidentification was part of what led to a sweeping ban by the federal government in the days post Prohibition when “maryjane” became an alternative high of choice. Between 1914 and 1933, 33 states passed laws regulating industrial hemp production, some being fueled by visions of drug crazed poster images and others through stiff lobbying from industries fueled by cotton, petrochemicals (polyesters, Dacron, rayon, etc.) timber (paper) and others with a financial interest in stemming the production of hemp.

So why was hemp made illegal in 1937?

The increased pressure against drug use supposedly led to the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, whereby any medicinal or other use of hemp had to be done through a licensed pharmacy or drug store, and was labeled and heavily taxed as such. Cannabis extracts were a common additive to things like cough syrup, considered much safer than what it replaced like laudanum (opium), cocaine, and high levels of other opiates. The psychoactive agent in Cannabis, THC, was grouped with narcotics, which interestingly at the time did not include many opium products, cocaine, and other highly addictive and physically damaging materials. It is worth note that testimony was given in Congress that the industrial hemp plant and hemp seed contained little to none of the drug components of “marihuana”. History notes the Act was pushed through, with little attention paid during hearings or to research presented.

Evil Mary Jane poster goes this para Films such as “Reefer Madness” were financed by religious organizations and put in movie theatres across the nation. From early on, the pressure against industrial hemp and marijuana in general were financial and prejudicial in nature, and both were used as a means to go after ethnic groups and indigenous people, down to the names given the material and who was arrested for possession once it was outlawed. Due to this weed insanity, the US infrastructure to process Cannabis completely disappeared, and now processing facilities, machinery, and other industrial equipment have to be redeveloped, tested, and built to handle this fast growing segment of Agribusiness.

Hemp For Victory

Industrial hemp got a big boost, however, during WWII when there was a shortage of material to make rope, and “Hemp for Victory” campaigns were pushed by the War Department. 400,000 pounds of industrial hemp seed was distributed to farmers to grow hemp for rope and textile use in the war efforts. By 1958 the industrial hemp industry had effectively been killed in the US due to unwillingness to recognize the biological differences in varieties of the same plant. This would be like outlawing roses because one variety had wicked thorns, and others were thornless.

It is interesting to note that two of the biggest attacks against industrial hemp came from the newspaper industry and magnates that controlled the press, and the American Medical Association. Wealthy industrialists ranging from Mellon, Hearst, and duPont all spent a lot of money killing off hemp as competition for timber, and thus, newsprint production. Later studies have shown industrial hemp does not have sufficient cellulose content to be viable as a paper source. Meanwhile, physicians, who were being required to establish the tax and pharmacies to collect and submit same from the Marijuana Act much preferred to prescribe codeine, cocaine, and opium, largely unregulated at the time, and which they claimed was safer than marijuana. The truth was, it was easier and less paperwork.

Hemp is a Sustainable Product – Good for the Environment and Economy

Hemp is proving viable for construction materials and biofuel now. Cement, plastics, lumber, flooring, insulation, and other materials are being heavily researched and companies launching to provide materials made from hemp. It is not a fad, it is a sustainable resource that provides a good product at a fair cost, unlike timber and even some recycled products. Hemp is sustainable and has a low environmental footprint while acting as a carbon sink for CO2. Hemp can be farmed with the same equipment farmers currently own that plant row crops, and it is a crop that will grow where irrigation or an abundance of water is not available.

Hemp processing does not take large plants and expensive resources to process, either. Many small processing facilities could be set up across the US in rural farm predominant areas, giving a boost in jobs to the local economy while helping the local farms with a valuable cash crop that improves their soil at the same time. Hemp is naturally pest resistant, uses few soil resources, and is great at controlling erosion. For American farmers, hemp is a golden crop of green – money green.

What all is hemp used for besides CBD products or hemp oil?

Besides all the good stuff listed above, hemp is highly utilitarian for both biofuel and building materials. Energy efficient to produce and process, hemp’s structure provides insulation and is naturally somewhat mold and fire resistant, making it ideal to explore for construction materials. The fiber is also extremely strong and resilient, and holds up well under torque.

Biofuel from hemp seed oil is actually not a new idea. Henry Ford, when inventing his Model T, designed it to run on gasoline or hemp based fuels. The discovery of large deposits of crude oil early in the 20thcentury squashed the hemp fueled vehicle approach, again from big money. Hemp biofuel is seeing a comeback. An interesting attribute of hemp, given our current soil and groundwater toxin issues, is that hemp does phytoremediation, taking up toxins in the root system and converting or holding them, thus cleaning soils directly to the roots and no further. Hemp was successfully used to clean up radioactive fallout and waste in Chernobyl, Russia, and is proving valuable in areas where soil and water supplies have been subject to dangerous spills, trash and waste disposal, mining dumps, and where other difficult to clean conditions exist. A natural solution that is inexpensive like hemp is far better than more chemicals being added to the equation.

Industrial hemp can also be grown for the most part with few chemical additives. Hemp takes in a tremendous amount of CO2, much more than trees are able to, and thus “scrubs” air to make it cleaner. It also returns 70% of the nutrients it uses back into the soil, a higher number than most crops. Studies have shown that hemp seed oil converts at 97% when turned into diesel, or can be turned into hemp biodiesel or methanol/ethanol (hemp gas). Since a big challenge from pesticides is the subsequent endocrine disruption that occurs in humans, a plant that not only binds toxins but can be safely converted to a clean burning fuel source that does not create hydrocarbons and high levels of ozone while cleaning the air and requires little to grow is a pure win-win from our perspective.

Hemp is legal now, right?

Hemp was a very important crop in the history of the US, providing fiber for fabric, paper, animal feed and bedding, food, oil, rope, and many other uses. For a period of time in US history, farmers were required to plant a certain amount of hemp on their farms if they participated in certain other government programs. When hemp was made illegal, it hurt a lot of American farmers and pushed a lot of business overseas, because the primary needs for hemp remained, like rope and oil, so we ended up having to import hemp products instead of our farmers growing hemp for them and keeping the jobs here.

Industrial hemp is finally legal to grow again in the U.S. after decades of effort to get the US Department of Agriculture and various other government agencies to differentiate between hemp and Cannabis forms that contain higher THC content. Hemp, or Cannabis, used for medical and recreational purposes is only legal to grow in states that have made medical and/or recreational Cannabis legal, or a number of states who are working with the Department of Agriculture on test plots for commercial application. Since hemp is still listed on the federal Controlled Substance Act, that alone has made it a challenge for farmers who have their state’s green light to grow test plots, but must buy seed out of the country, or find a carrier that will transport it, fearing the other not up-to-date branches of government will go after them.

All the hemp used for wellness* products at Vid comes from plants grown in the most environmentally sensitive manner in states where it is completely legal to grow the crop. We know that plants grown in the U.S. generally have much less chance of being exposed accidentally to chemicals, do not have the carbon footprint like materials shipped from overseas, total spectrum CBD products made by Vid are legal to use in all fifty states.

Hemp is Good for the Economy

Besides the fact that hemp is sustainable and environmentally smart, hemp is also good for the US economy. It is known that with hemp now legal to grow again, and with the significant increase in production the last five years, the hemp industry has added a lot of jobs and money into the US economy.

The initial guestimate when the 2014 US Federal Hemp Farm Bill was signed late last year was that hemp would add about $76,000,000 into the US GNP. Colorado alone just passed one billion dollars in money flow from legalized Cannabis. The US had $1.1 billion dollars pass through the hemp industry last year alone, and estimates are the figure will more than double by 2022 to $2.6 billion. The legalized Cannabis dispensary industry did $9 billion alone last year. Estimates of the number of jobs created are around 211,000, nearly 65,000 during just 2018. Hemp in all its forms is good business, and big business.

The infrastructure for things like hemp fuel and building materials has to be reestablished after six decades of it being illegal to grow this important agricultural crop in the US. With the vast increase in planted acreage, over 76,000 acres last year, industrial hemp production employment will surpass dispensary employment significantly in a very short time. Hemp may be the shot in the arm that American farmers need to stay competitive in the world market and keep their farms in the family. We hope so.

You have our word on that.