There is a difference between hemp and marijuana, but apparently some folks don’t understand.

This hemp grower along quiet Mills Lane in Bloomfield, Connecticut, has had to underscore that point.

Yes, they are both in the Cannabis family, but hemp contains hardly any of the psychoactive compound, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that marijuana does.

In fact, in order for hemp to be considered hemp, or “industrial hemp,” its flowers must contain just 0.3% THC, 33 times less than the least potent marijuana.   It’s still good for food, fiber, and fuel though.

Hemp also contains way more of another compound, Cannabidiol (CBD), than marijuana does.

CBD and THC are two of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants. Those two alone are very confusing these days. I can hardly wait until we start looking at the other 111.

You’d have to be living in a cave to not have seen CBD advertised these days in all kinds of ways, and minds as old and as out of touch as mine probably have that all confused with legal marijuana, getting high, medicinal pot and snake oil.

Let me attempt some clarification:

THC is the psychotropic drug we’ve known and loved for a long time. CBD, first identified in the 1940s, appears to have some medicinal uses and no psychotropic ones.

A CBD drug, Epidiolex, was approved in 2018 for treatment of two epilepsy disorders in the US. Cannibis is still a controlled substance, however and other CBD formulations are illegal to prescribe for medical use or to use as an ingredient in foods or dietary supplements.

Which has not stopped the entry into the marketplace of a wide variety of CBD-infused products making all sorts of medicinal-like claims. Hence my snake oil reference above.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it.