Hemp isn’t Marijuana!?
You Can’t Get High from Hemp Seeds
“Can you smoke it?” “Isn’t hemp marijuana?” “I’m not ready to jump on the pot wagon yet” “Is it safe for my kids?” and “Can I eat hemp when I’m pregnant or breastfeeding?” are the most common questions I’m asked.
I would like to assure you that consuming hemp seeds is as safe as sunflower, sesame, chia, flax, or pumpkin seeds. You could literally smoke an entire hemp field (if you really wanted to…) and you could not get high – it is impossible! There are many varieties within the cannabis species.
The easiest way I can explain it is to compare cannabis to mushrooms. There are mushrooms we eat, many of them in fact, and some of them are known to be powerful superfoods! Then there are mushrooms that have psychoactive effects, which we must be careful not to eat.
Hemp is tall and lanky, “marijuana” is short and plump. Both plants look completely different when you compare them side by side. Mushrooms, too, look different. Heck, we could even look at how many different varieties there are of apples, potatoes, tomatoes, or cherries.
Hemp is no different. All cannabis plants make cannabinoids in different concentrations. THC is the psychoactive cannabinoid in “marijuana” or “pot”. THC is virtually non-existent in the hemp plant – like a flea in a dump truck!
Some people think that the plant has been altered, the THC removed, the males removed so that the females’ buds turn to seed. None of this is true. In fact, you can’t even grow hemp alongside “marijuana”, or both crops will fail.
The cannabis plant had existed for thousands of years across the world, and utilized for endless purposes until only about 80 years ago. Propaganda has evolved the way humanity sees nature. The species was banned in Canada in 1938. The US government actively encouraged farmers to grow hemp for fiber and oil during World War II, cultivation ceasing by 1958. Believe it or not, hemp was re-legalized for industrial use in Canada almost 20 years ago (since 1998)!
Mother nature put every plant on this earth for a reason, she gave us this gift! To me, it is a crime that mankind decided nature shouldn’t exist. Although I’m not free to plant hemp in my garden (without a license from Health Canada), I am grateful that I have access to it. I can buy it in the grocery or health food stores and feed it to my family. It is a full balanced meal on it’s own, so I never have to worry if they’re getting the nutrition they need. Plus, they love the delicious nutty taste, and it’s nice and soft for easy chewing.
