Hemp Facts
and Myths
Separating what people believe about hemp from what is actually true.
Common Hemp Myths, Set Straight
Hemp has been part of human civilization for thousands of years, yet a lot of what people "know" about it is wrong. Here are the misconceptions we hear most, with the facts to help you educate others about the history, uses, and what hemp really is.
Hemp can get you high.
Industrial hemp is part of the cannabis family, but hemp is specifically any variety of cannabis with less than 0.3% THC. At that level it cannot get you high. Some products sold as hemp (delta-8, hemp-derived THC gummies) are a different story. Read the full answer: Can hemp get you high?
All products with "hemp" in the name are true cannabis hemp.
Several products and plants are similar to industrial hemp, or have borrowed the name because they share some properties. "Hemp rope" may be manila hemp (abacá), and "hemp burlap" may well be jute.
Know your sources, and ask whether it's true, authentic cannabis hemp.
US law has always treated hemp and "marijuana" the same.
The demonization of hemp in the USA and around the world is only about 80 years old. Some earlier laws actually required farmers to grow industrial hemp for war efforts, or accepted it as payment for taxes. Read about the Federal Farm Bill.
Even with low THC, hemp can be extracted and concentrated into a powerful drug.
Extracting THC from industrial hemp, then refining out the CBD that dominates it, would be so expensive, hazardous, and time-consuming that it is extremely unlikely anyone would attempt it rather than simply obtaining high-THC marijuana.
Legalizing hemp while prohibiting marijuana would burden local police.
In countries where hemp is grown as an agricultural crop, police have experienced no such burden.
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