“It’s rope, not dope!”
So went the clarion call from early activists seeking to restore the incredibly versatile hemp plant to its rightful place in U.S. industrial production. Just a few decades ago, that catchy slogan accurately summarized the distinction between hemp and cannabis. Up until recently, “hemp” referred to low-resin, non-intoxicating Cannabis Sativa L that had been bred for maximum fiber or seed oil content and grown for multiple industrial purposes, while “cannabis” typically meant plants bred and grown for maximum resin content and imbued with medicinal and recreational qualities well-suited for human consumption.
Today, though, the distinction between hemp and high-resin cannabis is muddled. A plethora of so-called hemp products are now being explicitly marketed for their intoxicating effect. In short, modern-day “hemp” looks a lot more like dope than rope, and that’s confusing to consumers and regulators.
It’s crucial to separate fact from fiction as stakeholders grapple with tricky issues regarding THC potency, CBD efficacy, and product safety. Here are seven common industry-promoted fallacies about hemp.
Fallacy #1: “0.3 percent THC is non-intoxicating.”
Contrary to popular belief, the 0.3 percent THC threshold in botanical hemp does not equate to non-intoxicating levels when applied to edibles and beverages. THC is a potent psychoactive compound. A dose is typically measured in milligrams (thousandths of a gram), not grams. A 0.3 percent threshold can result in an astonishingly high amount of THC in a finished product. In a 12-ounce beverage, for example, 0.3 percent translates into over 1,000mg of THC.1 A single, normal-sized “hemp” gummy could have 20mg of THC. For comparison, the maximum THC per serving allowed in edibles in the regulated California cannabis market is 10mg.