UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL HEMP AND
MARIJUANA

Drawn from ?Hemp and Marijuana: Myths & Realities? David P. West, Ph.D.

 Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has ever been more misunderstood than hemp. For too
many years, emotion-not reason-has guided our policy toward this crop. And nowhere have emotions run
hotter than in the debate over the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. This paper is
intended to inform that debate by offering scientific evidence, so that farmers, policy makers,
manufacturers, and the general public can distinguish between myth and reality.

 Botanically, the genus Cannabis is composed of several variants. Although there has been a
long-standing debate among taxonomists about how to classify these variants into species, applied plant
breeders generally embrace a biochemical method to classify variants along utilitarian lines. Cannabis is
the only plant genus that contains the unique class of molecular compounds called cannabinoids. Many
cannabinoids have been identified, but two preponderate: THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient of
Cannabis, and CBD, which is an antipsychoactive ingredient. One type of Cannabis is high in the
psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the antipsychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. This type is
popularly known as marijuana. Another type is high in CBD and low in THC. Variants of this type are
called industrial hemp.

A full version link of this article as well as an excellent selection of readings specific to hemp is found at:

http://www.gametec.com/hemp/archives.html