Hemp is known for a bevy of usages that range from clothing and paper to plastics, hempcrete and, crucially, CBD hemp oil. CBD oil’s marketplace has surged in recent years, with CBD seeming to be not only useful for a slew of conditions, including severe seizure disorder. In addition, it’s able to be infused into countless products that have their own astronomical range.
North Carolina is one of the states that has approved growing industrialized hemp, with provisions, and it could eventually be a true cash crop for the state, which is losing money on flailing tobacco sales and the low prices of soybeans. Unfortunately, in 1970, hemp was added to the controlled substances list along with the already banned cannabis, making both farmers and legislators nervous in these current times.
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The designation may seem extreme for a plant with so many uses and with no harm associated with it whatsoever. To be considered hemp, the psychoactive component THC has to be 0.3 percent or lower, compared to cannabis’ normal 5-30+ percent content. In other words, there’s no way it can even get one high. This fact alone makes its delegation to the harmful substances list ludicrous.
While members of congress fight to free both hemp and cannabis from the bondage of prohibition, North Carolina is moving forward via the state’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. Growing hemp is being conducted by a North Carolina State University experiment that could not only change minds, but bring back a sustainable economy for farmers across the state.
Thus far, more than 325 farmers have gotten licenses to grow hemp; 80 additional licenses have been awarded to hemp processors to turn the hemp flowers into CBD oil. Growing hemp for its flowers is difficult because of the THC percentage limitations, but is also similar to growing a type of local tobacco that’s a little challenging to grow itself, but it can certainly be done and done well.
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Despite the current challenges to growing hemp, it is one of the best crops that can be planted to bolster a healthy environment on top of a healthy economy. The root systems run deep into the soil and nourish it, meaning that farmers do not have to rotate crops or even use much in the way of pesticides and chemicals, as the plant is graced with its own defense systems.
With demand for hemp and CBD at an all time high, the right to grow industrial hemp could be a major game changer, not only for North Carolina, but for all states.
