Industrial Hemp vs Marijuana

 

All NuLife products are made using 100% USA-grown, organic industrial hemp. We do not sell marijuana or THC-containing products.

Unfortunately, the legal prohibition of cannabis and hemp has created a lot of confusion around the cannabis sativa plant. There are significant differences between industrial hemp and marijuana, which are important to understand.

Industrial Hemp vs Marijuana

Both industrial hemp and marijuana come from the same plant, cannabis sativa. However, the similarities stop there – hemp is entirely different than marijuana in its cultivation, function and application.

The industrial hemp plant is cultivated for use in manufacturing and industrial uses. Industrial hemp uses include applications in the manufacture of clothing, building materials, food, body care products, and more. Conversely, marijuana is cultivated solely for use in medicinal and recreational applications.

Our industrial hemp is genetically selected and cultivated to maximize CBD content while minimizing THC content. In order to qualify legally as industrial hemp, the THC content must be below 0.3%.

THC vs CBD

The cannabis sativa plant contains many cannabinoids, organic chemicals that give the plant its potential benefits. The two main cannabinoids are THC and CBD.

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive compound found in marijuana. THC is what causes a “high” and is the reason for marijuana’s popularity as a recreational drug.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is the main therapeutic compound that can have a variety of potential health benefits. CBD is not psychoactive, so you cannot get high or experience any psychoactive effects from cannabidiol.

An average batch of marijuana may contain about 5-25% THC and often very low CBD content of 1% or less. Industrial hemp flips these numbers around, offering a high CBD content alongside less than 0.3% THC. The THC content is so minimal that it is impossible to experience psychoactive effects from the industrial hemp plant.

Is Hemp Legal?

Industrial hemp has a long and complicated legal history in the United States. It was commercially grown in the US as early as the 1700’s, and was even promoted by the USDA in the 1940’s when the government encouraged farmers to grow hemp to aid in the war effort.

The tide began to change, though, and the cultivation of industrial hemp and cannabis sativa was outlawed in the 1950’s. Industrial hemp was unfairly grouped with marijuana, with the law considering the two products identical – despite the fact that hemp is non-psychoactive. Hemp still remained legal in many countries, and the US economy still imported many products made using hemp.

Today, hemp laws are fairly convoluted. The plant still remains prohibited on a federal level, yet most states allow its cultivation. The Agricultural Act of 2014 (Section 7606) took a step in the right direction by identifying industrial hemp as a distinct product and authorizing research studies on the plant. A more thorough federal bill, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017, was introduced to the House in 2017, but progress is stalled.

Hemp laws are mostly left up to the states, with minimal federal intervention. 34 states have passed some sort of legislation relating to industrial hemp, and at least 44 have some sort of legislation relating to CBD. State laws vary, but most consider industrial hemp to be any variety of cannabis sativa that has a THC content of 0.3% or less on a dry-weight basis. Colorado has some of the most industrial hemp-friendly laws, which is why we source our industrial hemp from organic Colorado farms.

Most of the laws relating to industrial hemp target the growers and manufacturers, not individuals. Possession of industrial hemp derived products is considered legal, so long as they are standardized to contain minimal THC. As mentioned, hemp-derived products have been important and available for sale here in the US for a long time, so most of the laws discussed above relate directly to the cultivation of hemp, not the possession of hemp-derived products.

What Does This Mean For You?

Here’s the bottom line: all our products are made using industrial hemp certified to contain less than 0.3% THC. Our products have no psychoactive effects. Everything we sell can be shipped to all US states.

Our hemp is grown in Colorado using organic farming practices. Products are developed using cutting-edge technology and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines. Learn more about our industrial hemp farms here.