Why is hemp legal

It is legal to grow hemp in the UK, but doing so requires jumping through more than a few hoops. Since it is still considered a restricted crop under the Misuse of Drugs Act, hemp is commonly — and misguidedly — referenced as a dangerous plant by policymakers. This has led to serious restrictions on what people can cultivate from the plant, making it difficult to get the most out of the growing and production process.

New hemp cultivation licenses are fairly expensive and in order for it to be approved, farms have to be vetted, depending on their location, size and the specific type of hemp seed they are harvesting.

Post-Brexit, this picture could potentially change a lot in the coming years. The extra media attention these days helps a lot too. The leaves, which are used for the extraction of CBD, have to be destroyed as soon as they are seperated from the plant because the cultivation process is still illegal in the UK. To be blunt, we think this is pretty ridiculous. As they stand, laws around hemp are effectively leaving farmers locked out of a growing market due to antiquated policies that are doing more harm than lawmakers realise.

There are widespread shifts in attitudes towards hemp and the benefits of cultivating CBD, so hemp might be in for new frontiers sooner rather than later. We certainly are holding out for law changes, so that restrictions can be loosened and we can harvest hemp plants to their full potential. After all, hemp does have the potential to change the world. There are a whole range of environmental benefits of hemp , but as a carbon-negative crop, hemp absorbs more carbon than it emits in its production process.

Man almost dies from smoking what he thought was CBD oil The US Department of Agriculture this week posted formal federal guidelines for how hemp — the versatile cannabis varietal used for clothing, plastics, fuel and food — can be grown, harvested, tested, processed, transported and sold. The proposed regulations, published Thursday in the Federal Register for public comment, could be a boon for a burgeoning industry that has operated under a hodgepodge of state laws following the passage of past farm bills, notably the Agricultural Improvement Act of that legalized hemp.

CBD product sales are booming. Now the FDA needs to weigh in. Under the new program, states and Native American tribes will have to submit for approval hemp production plans that meet or exceed the USDA's standards.

For those states and tribes that don't submit a plan, these federal guidelines will apply. Read More. Any cannabis plant that contains more than 0. The plan must describe procedures for maintaining records of the land used in hemp production, testing THC levels in the hemp, disposing of plants that are in violation of the law, complying with enforcement provisions, conducting inspections, and submitting licensure and other relevant information to USDA.

The state or Indian tribe also must certify that it has the resources to implement the proposed plan. Within 60 days of receiving a state or tribal plan for hemp production, USDA, in consultation with the U.

Attorney General, must approve or deny the plan. If a state or tribe forgoes development of a plan, or USDA revokes an approved plan, the state or Indian tribe will be subject to a hemp production plan established by USDA. USDA must annually submit to Congress a report containing updates on the implementation of hemp production programs.

The Farm Bill does not explicitly preempt the patchwork of state and tribal laws that currently regulate cannabis. In fact, the law gives the states and Indian tribes significant flexibility to maintain or establish more stringent parameters on the production of hemp, as long as they do not prohibit the transport or shipment of hemp through the state or Indian territory. State laws vary in how they define hemp and control access to it, and states are poised to revisit existing regulations and consider new legislation following the Farm Bill.

The ramifications of noncompliance range from corrective action plans to a permanent bar on participation in hemp production. USDA is authorized to conduct audits of states and tribal governments for their compliance with an approved plan.

For the first instance of noncompliance, USDA may require a corrective action plan. If a hemp producer negligently violates a hemp production plan, the producer will be required to comply with a corrective action plan that includes periodic compliance reporting to the relevant state or tribal authority or USDA for at least two calendar years.

Three strikes results in a time out: a hemp producer that negligently violates the state or tribal plan three times within a five-year period will be ineligible to produce hemp for five years.