When we look at the laws pertaining to hemp and CBD in Idaho, we discover fear and prejudice. When a reasonable person examines any aspect of hemp production and the use of CBD, they find nothing but beneficial facts and information. And yet fear raises its ugly head and we have antiquated laws and law makers.
FEAR OF MARIJUANA SPLASHES OVER TO HEMP AND CBD
So often I hear that if we allow hemp production in Idaho, marijuana will slip in and before we know it, the entire state will be growing marijuana. Such foolishness has no place in law making. The most cursory investigation will uncover the truth. There have been several news stories that contain information contradicting the notion that producers will grow marijuana with hemp. In states where marijuana is grown legally, the growers are up in arms when a hemp producer grows their product too close to the marijuana producer. The reason? Hemp cross pollinates with the marijuana plant and renders it impotent, making the crop useless. That being the case, anyone who tried to grow marijuana amongst their hemp would be wasting their time and effort.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND HEMP
We also hear that law enforcement will be perplexed when encountering hemp as they try to determine of the product is hemp or marijuana. The 4-AP test can indicate whether the substance in question has more CBD than THC. If the liquid in the test turns blue, the substance is likely marijuana. If it turns pink, it indicates the CBD is greater than the THC. That seems fairly straight forward and not real difficult to differentiate the two compounds. It is too bad that the State of Idaho isn’t aware of that test. Here is a link to a video explaining the test. youtube.com/watch?v=4PL_6bfaBlQ&feature=youtu.be.
CBD AND HEMP BRING EXTENSIVE BENEFITS
As we have written before, CBD has so many benefits to people’s health that it is silly to have the extent of limits on it. That goes double for hemp. We have listed the many benefits of hemp in previous posts, paper production, clothing, fuel, medicine, wood products, plastic, to name a few. Added to the list is the fact that one acre of hemp produces the same amount of paper as four acres of trees and only takes six months to regenerate as opposed to thirty years minimum for trees. Hemp uses significantly less water than cotton and has a smaller carbon footprint. Hemp would reduce the use of single use plastic and save a great deal of the plastic pollution.
WHAT INFORMATION ARE THE LAW MAKERS LOOKING AT?
All this makes one wonder what information our lawmakers are looking at. It certainly isn’t the facts or any scientific research. How sad for Idaho that we are led by fear and prejudice and not by enlightened open thinking.