Legal Status of Hemp

The legal status of hemp can be quite a touchy subject. Whilst commercially grow hemp is a non-THC variant of its marijuana brother, the association makes the cultivation of hemp a tricky task in most countries.

A good example of this is within the USA. Under US federal law, all cultivation of cannabis, including hemp is illegal. In order to legally grow hemp a permit must be obtained from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This is only really done for research purpose even though some states have legalized the controlled production of it.

This means that in most states, not just any old farmer can grow it, they need to be regulated and adhering to strict guidelines. The rest of the Western world has a very similar situation, but do tend to have commercial outfits legally growing it – the USA relies on imports of hemp under a zero-tolerance policy.

It is only now, in states like Colorado where the use of recreational pot has just been legalized that the bonds on hemp are hesitantly being relaxed. The first legal commercial crop in the last hundred years has only just been planted and is still growing as this article is being written!

You may be surprised to know that it is China that leads the way in hemp production, being the world's number one producer, with European countries predominantly producing the rest.

The restrictions placed on hemp unfortunately limit its use on the market, it is a plant of many uses, but because of the low volumes produced it cannot be used to its full potential.

There are those out there that would argue the reason that marijuana has been widely outlawed was not because of its psychoactive properties, but because of hemp's many uses – a potential threat to big business trying to gain a monopoly on various markets. Something that is very hard to do with an easy to grow, versatile and legal resource readily available.

Whatever the initial reasons for its initial outlaw, hemp is still a legal minefield, but more and more countries are coming around to the use of cannabis, and as this happens laws on hemp should slacken. Only time will really tell.