Hemp is an often misunderstood plant. There are so many misconceptions surrounding this amazing crop!
Thanks to the criminalisation of marijuana and hemp’s prohibition during the last century, people often confuse hemp for its high inducing cousin. This has led people to have many beliefs about hemp that simply aren’t true.
These beliefs deter people from embracing hemp products like hemp seeds, cosmetics and clothing into their lives.
This post aims to bust those myths about hemp and educate people of what hemp is really all about!
1. Hemp is Marijuana
The main thing that sets these two varieties apart is their cannabinoid content. Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis which interact with receptors in the humans body, cannabinoids include THC, CBD and many more.
THC is the cannabinoid responsible for making you high. Hemp contains much lower levels of THC than marijuana, usually around 0.3% which is not enough to make you high. Hemp is also higher in CBD than marijuana, although CBD is present in both species. Marijuana contains 5-20% THC.
2. Hemp Products Will Make You High
Some people fear if they ingest hemp products like hemp seeds, CBD oils or protein powders will feel high. This is simply untrue. Even if you smoked hemp it wouldn’t make you high.
Some people claim that hemp will make the user feel high which is untrue. Unless you’re sensitive to low levels of THC, the levels in hemp are not enough to cause any psychoactive symptoms.
3. Hemp Doesn’t Have Any Health Benefits
Some people don’t believe that hemp has any positive impact on your health. They simply write it off as being bad due to their associations with marijuana.
However this couldn’t be further from the truth! Hemp has incredible healing powers. CBD oil can help to treat many ailments such as pain, inflammation, depression, cancer treatment symptoms and acne.
Hemp seeds and hemp seed oil provides clean plant based protein, fibre, omega 3s and many other vitamins and minerals which such support healthy skin and hair, immunity, heart health, digestion and more.
4. Hemp is Just Used For Animal Feed
While hemp is great for animal feed it also has a host of many other uses which include clothing, paper, construction materials, plastic, fuel, fibreglass and more.
The best part is these products made out of hemp are much better for the environment than the alternatives.
5. Hemp Is Illegal
This is false. While the cultivation of hemp used to be illegal, laws around the world are starting to loosen up to allow people to grow hemp more freely. Hemp products have been legal for a long time however the cultivation was a different story. Prior to 2018 all hemp products had to be imported into the US before a law was passed allowing for its cultivation.
In New Zealand cultivation of hemp has been legal since 2006 with a permit and it can legally be consumed by humans since 2018. Prior to that it was only legal for animal consumption!
Hemp consumption and cultivation is legal in many other countries as well like Australia, India, Canada, UK and many more.
Now You Know!
There are so many misconceptions around hemp, but now you know the truth!
