Interesting Hemp Facts

Agricultural hemp is as harmless as it is versatile.  And today’s farm equipment can be rather easily modified for planting and harvesting hemp.

Did you know:

• The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world that prohibits hemp cultivation, due to the DEA’s refusal to distinguish between low-THC hemp and high-THC marijuana.
• Hemp is low in THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), high in CBD (cannabidiol – a psycho-active blocker), and cannot be used as or converted into a recreational drug.
• Consuming hemp foods will not result in a false positive on a drug test (See www.TestPledge.com)

• Hemp seed oil contains the hightest and most-balanced levels of essential fatty acids (EFAs, omega-3 and omega-6) of any seed oil and provides SDA and GLA.
• Hemp seed is high in protein and contains all essential amino acids.
• The recently revived global hemp market is a thriving commercial success.  In 2006, retail sales of hemp products in North America reached over $300 million, with hemp food sales exceeding $16 million.
• Unlike kenaf (cultivated in Asia for its fibre) or other alternative fiber and biomass crops, industrial hemp can be grown at almost any latitude and under a wide variety of climate and soil conditions.
• Hemp stalks (cellulose) can be converted to biomass energy, and hemp oil can be converted to diesel fuel.  A “hemp car” has crossed North America running on 100% hemp fuel.
• Hemp fiber is the longest, most durable natural fiber on earth.
• Paper made from hemp never yellows and lasts for hundreds of years.
• As a rotational crop, hemp naturally suppresses weeds and returns nitrogen back to the soil, helping to condition it.  Rotating hemp with soybeans leads to a dramatic reduction of cyst nematodes (a destructive soil pest with few cures) without any chemical input.