Hemp: An American Journey
Timeline Of Hemp In America
1616
Jamestown Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, colony law requires settlers to grow “Indian hemp” to make ropes, sails, and clothing
1700’s
American farmers in several colonies are legally required to grow hemp
1840
Abraham Lincoln uses hemp seed oil as fuel for lamps in his household
1916
USDA publishes findings showing hemp produces 4X more paper per acre than trees
1937
The Marijuana Tax Act placed a tax on all cannabis sales (including hemp), heavily discouraging production of hemp
1942
Henry Ford builds an experimental car body made with hemp fiber, which is ten times stronger than steel
1942
USDA initiates the “Hemp for Victory” program – this leads to more than 150,000 acres of hemp production
1957
Farmers plant the last commercial hemp fields in the U.S. in Wisconsin
1970
The Controlled Substances Act classified hemp as an illegal Schedule I drug. Strict regulations imposed on the cultivation of industrial hemp as well as marijuana
2004
Ninth Circuit Court decision in Hemp Industries Association vs. DEA permanently protects sales of hemp foods and body care products in the U.S.
2014
President Obama signed the Farm Bill, which allowed research institutions to start piloting hemp farming.
2015
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act (H.R. 525 and S. 134) introduced in the House and Senate. This act is the first of several attempts to fully legalize hemp.
2018
President Trump signed the Federal Farm Bill which Nationally legalizes the production of industrial hemp (defined as Cannabis sativa plants containing less than three-tenths of one present of THC).
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018:
The excerpt taken from the 500+ page document, more widely known as the 2018 Farm Bill, has some key take ways such as it:
- Defines hemp as the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of the plant with a delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent by dry weight.
- This monumental ACT resulted into the removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, paving the way for the wholly legal cultivation, possession, sale and distribution of the hemp plant.
- Additionally, this means that CBD products produced from industrial hemp are no longer considered Schedule I substances. However, please note that CBD products that come from marijuana plants with more than 0.3 percent THC are still federally illegal.
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- Compliant Hemp Products Must Meet these Standards:
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- Hemp material must have <0.3% THC by volume
- Hemp cultivators must be registered with the Department of Agriculture
- Strains and genetics must be preapproved by local and federal regulators
- Hemp Material must be domestically sourced farms.
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- Delegates to states and Indian tribes, the broad authority to regulate and limit the production and sale of hemp and hemp products within their borders. States and Indian tribes cannot, however, limit the transportation or shipment of hemp and hemp products through their respective jurisdictions.