REWARDS
If you are confused on the whole hemp legalization thing, you are not alone.
In this post, we are bringing you the most recent news regarding the legalization of hemp farming in the United States, which – article spoiler alert – is good news.
Wait a minute. What is hemp, and what does it have to do with CBD?
Hemp is the strain of the cannabis plant which contains copious amounts of our beloved CBD, ready and willing to provide us with quality CBD oils and other products to brighten our days, improve our well-being, and lessen our pain and anxieties.
In short, hemp is our friend, and we need it around to not only cover our CBD needs, but to fuel our bodies with nutrition, replace harmful-to-our-ecosystems plastic products, sustainably make our clothes, and all around save our planet.
That said, let’s get to what in the world is happening on the hemp farming front.
The Gist
Thanks to a vote from the U.S. Senate, the new and improved Farm Bill, labeled the Farming Act of 2018, would allow for legal cultivation, processing and sale of industrial hemp.
Here is what happened:
U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky lobbied for the United States Senate to pass legislation to end hemp prohibition in the Spring of 2018, and he succeeded, allowing farmers across the nation to cultivate as much hemp as they please, legally.
This will be a serious game-changer for farmers across the U.S. According to the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, industrial hemp would be viewed, and regulated, the same way an agricultural crop is, meaning it would officially (finally) be removed from the Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.
To provide clarity on the matter, the 2014 Farm Bill, signed into law by President Obama, legalized the growing of hemp for research purposes only, meaning institutions like state departments and universities could legally grow and cultivate the hemp plant, but not really anyone else.
The Hemp Farming Act of 2018
Now, the proposed Hemp Farming Act of 2018 is classifying hemp ingredients (including CBD, of course, containing no more than the 0.3 percent threshold of THC levels) as an agricultural commodity, removing any and all previous roadblocks to the growth of the highly beneficial hemp plant across the United States.
What does this mean?
If the bill passes, hemp formulated into food and beverages would be considered agricultural ingredients, ridding once and for all the stigma that hemp – which is not marijuana – is indeed, not marijuana. Furthermore, this would constitute CBD also as an agricultural commodity, opening up a whole new world for farmers, manufacturers, medical professionals, and consumers.
A Grassroots hemp advocacy group, called Vote Hemp, expressed its support for the bill, stating in an article from Nutritional Outlook that it is “strongly poised to pass.” Not only would this be great for the CBD world, authorizing and encouraging access to federal research funding for hemp, but it would prove to be great for the world in general, as it would remove restrictions on banking, water rights, and other regulatory barriers that the hemp industry has faced and is still facing today.
If the U.S. House of Representatives joins the senate in passing the legalization of hemp farming across the United States, we could see a true agricultural revolution – PLUS – the lowering of costs of hemp products.
To date, 34 states have defined industrial hemp as “distinct and removed barriers” to its production, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Want some more good CBD news?
The FDA has approved the first cannabis-derived prescription medication for epilepsy. Alongside this approval (and major stride in the CBD industry), federal agencies are reportedly on schedule to remove CBD from Schedule 1 status at the federal level. Translation – the CBD pharmaceutical would then be legally sold nationwide.