I, personally, cannot stand reading the law. There are special people who do that, and they make a lot more money and are in school for a lot longer, they are lawyers. I’m not a fan of reading in between the lines. So I went on a journey to find out what the Farm Bill 2018 means for hemp.
I reached out to a couple lawyers to get a better handle on what this is going to mean for the hemp industry and companies like mine. They broke it down for me, industrial hemp removed from schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act and it must contain .3% or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to be legal. You should know by now that, THC gets you “high”. With the signing of the Farm Bill 2018, hemp is legal in the USA.
However, you still must submit a license to the USDA, Department of Agriculture to grow hemp. Farmers and other hemp based business now can grow and build, what is being called the “Green Rush”. People in the industry can get insurance on crops and should be able to bank, however it is slow rolling. Not everyone is jumping on to the “green rush”. There are several banks not willing to work with hemp businesses. Passing of the Farm Bill 2018 is only the first step to a huge industry that is only breaking the barriers.
Some great things came out of the signing of the Farm Bill 2018 making hemp legal. We will get more research on hemp and cannabis as a whole. We need more education on the subject more people talking about it and learning about it before judging it. The FDA came out strong once the bill was signed with a statement saying that putting CBD in to food is illegal because it hasn’t been approved by them. I believe this will have to change eventually, but again it is going to be slow rolling. Keep educating and talking about hemp!
Resource: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5485
Chelsea Sagez, Emerald Cannabliss