Hemp 101 - Introduction To The Cannabis Plant
When you hear the word “cannabis” what first comes to mind? If it’s a mental image of teenagers smoking pot in the parking lot before an IMAX movie, you’re definitely not alone. Cannabis has a reputation that’s proven hard to shake and many people are still skeptical of its medicinal value, or question whether it has any value at all. There are a ton of myths out there about cannabis, creating the perfect storm of misinformation and confusion.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that the perfect antidote to this chaos is simply getting your facts straight. If you’re curious to know more about cannabis—or even just test your current knowledge—you’ve come to the right place.
The basics of cannabis
Cannabis sativa is the technical name given to the cannabis plant, an herbaceous flowering plant indigenous to eastern Asia that’s in the same family as hops and hackberries. Many people don’t realize this, but both hemp and marijuana are Cannabis sativa. Yes, you heard that correctly—hemp and marijuana are two versions of the same plant! There are some key legal and chemical differences between the two, but they are both cannabis. Thinking otherwise is one of the most common misconceptions about cannabis.
Intro to cannabinoids
Hemp and marijuana might be the same plant, but as mentioned before, there are some important differences to familiarize yourself with. This mostly has to do with the compounds, called cannabinoids, found within them. You’ve probably heard of CBD and THC; they’re the two most abundant cannabinoids found in cannabis. CBD is short for cannabidiol, a compound that’s become famous in recent years for its anti-inflammatory, anti-seizure, and anti-anxiety properties.
Tetrahydrocannabinol is the full name for THC, the compound in cannabis that’s responsible for its intoxicating effects. THC has many known health benefits, including helping with nausea, stimulating appetite, and decreasing pain. Despite legal hurdles and a lot of paperwork, cannabinoids are being studied as treatments for an extremely wide variety of conditions. So are these cannabinoids found in hemp or marijuana? Many people think hemp contains CBD and marijuana contains THC, but it’s not quite that simple.
Hemp versus marijuana
Legally speaking, hemp is defined as a Cannabis sativa plant with less than 0.03% THC. Practically speaking, the hemp plant has historically been grown for industrial purposes. This means that it’s tall, stalky, and can be used to make paper, textiles, soaps, and even fuel (just to name a few). In fact, according to one source, over 25,000 products can be made from hemp. Contrary to popular belief, hemp isn’t typically high in cannabinoids like CBD because its flowering portions, which produce cannabinoids, are typically very limited.
Marijuana, by contrast, is more medicinal and has been used for its health benefits for thousands of years. It has large, rich flowering portions that are chock full of cannabinoids, with each strain and plant containing a unique ratio of CBD to THC. These ratios can vary widely, from more than 30:1 CBD to THC all the way to plants that are more than 25% THC more than 25% THC by dry weight, which ends up being close to a 50:1 ratio of THC to CBD.
Now that we have the basic differences between hemp and marijuana down, you should know the the line between marijuana and hemp is getting blurrier by the day. Growers have been able to breed medicinal cannabis plants to be very high in CBD but low in THC. So low, in fact, that they legally qualify as hemp and we can all legally take advantage of the CBD that can be extracted from them.
So what’s the take home? The cannabis plant is extremely versatile, with a huge variety of uses and applications, and the difference between hemp and marijuana can be difficult to pin down.
Glossary of Terms
THC: Tetrahydrocannabinol, one of the many cannabinoid compounds found in the cannabis plant. THC is the principal intoxicating constituent of cannabis.
CBD: Cannabidiol, one of the many compounds found in the cannabis plant. Used primarily for its anti-seizure, anti-anxiety, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Terpenes: Aromatic oils that affect the flavor and smell of cannabis varieties and act synergistically with other cannabinoid compounds to produce health benefits.
Cannabinoids: A group of over 100 compounds found in the cannabis plant.
Psychoactive: Having an effect on the brain and behavior. Often used to describe cannabis with higher levels of THC that produce intoxicating effects.
Extraction: The first step to separate the cannabinoids and other compounds from the raw plant material.
- GRETCHEN LIDICKER