Why I Believe in Hemp - Part 1

Hi all. It’s been a while since I last posted, but I finally got motivated to get off my ass. I’ve had weeks of thinking about things I’d like to talk about, but now I’m actually sitting down and typing. So what I’d like to start off with is talking about why I believe in hemp - and that does not mean that I’ve abandoned cannabis in any way, or no longer support its use. This post is inspired by Lauren Yoshiko , who last year mentioned my farewell post in her Sticky Bits newsletter. (I’m actually honored I was even worth mentioning). In that post, I had written about my interest in working in the hemp space (to be clear, I DID NOT leave TSUMo to enter hemp - my entire team at TSUMo was eliminated, including myself), and was speaking more to the challenges that exist in the regulated cannabis market and why the hemp market might provide more opportunities at this point in time. I even spoke to Alex Halperin from Weedweek about it here .

So, let’s get started with a few points:?

1. I do not believe in pitting the regulated cannabis market against the growing hemp market. Because here’s the thing I do believe in: Our goal as an industry is to get more people to consume more cannabinoids. PERIOD.?
2. Hemp and cannabis are the same fucking plant. In 2018, the federal government decided to legally define hemp plants as containing less than 0.3% THC. Why 0.3%? There’s no scientific explanation for this, it’s just an arbitrary number. Why not 1% or .2% Who knows - and there’s an active, ongoing debate as to whether or not the feds will update that number in the now-delayed Farm Bill, basically legally redefining what we now call hemp.
3. A molecule is a molecule is a molecule. I’ve been in cannabis since 2016, and this one always baffled me, because back then the debate was often if CBD derived from cannabis is better than CBD derived from hemp (again, the same species of plant). I recommend reading Lauren Yoshiko’s post about her evolving opinion on the matter. But here’s the thing, let’s think about caffeine - do we debate if caffeine that occurs naturally in coffee, tea, yerba mate, cacao or guarana are better than each other? We may argue about concentration, but not the compound itself. And what about alcohol - is the ethanol derived from wine materially better than the ethanol derived from wheat or potatoes? Now, if you want to discuss entourage effects, whole plant medicine, methods of derivation or synthetic by-products ( Harold Han of Vertosa wrote a great article about it here ), we can have those discussions. But at the end of the day, Delta 9 THC whether occurring in hemp or cannabis, is the same molecule.
4. Legal access to cannabinoids is a major obstacle for many many people. Last year, I started watching High Maintenance, and what pissed me off was this: the time period during which the TV show took place (2016-2020) there were many states that had already legalized cannabis. And yet, in a state like NY, people were buying weed from a dealer like it was a major crime (probably because it was a crime). In the meantime, I could walk into a dispensary, show my ID, and buy whatever I wanted. And also, surprise to the entire industry, a lot of people don’t want to break the law. Hemp provides a method for consumers where cannabis is still illegal to purchase products legally. It even removes barriers to access, since hemp products can be shipped directly to your home, or if you’re in Minnesota, you can just walk into your local grocery store and buy hemp derived products right off the shelf. And ever since I got into cannabis, giving access to more people has also been a major goal of the industry. From the beginning, it has always been my dream that cannabis would be regulated and available for all people just like nicotine and alcohol. And guess what? Looks like the hemp derived products are starting to achieve that.
5. Listen up everyone, I don’t make the laws. Actually, though the industry gets some input and feedback into how laws are written, we don’t write the laws. I mean, have you read the California cannabis regulations? When I tell people about them, I often get asked,”that makes no sense, why would they do that?” and my answer is, I have no idea, I’m not a regulator. But for the last 8 years, I have always tried to work within the laws. So I 100% agree that it seems completely unfair that we have regulated cannabis companies working within an incredibly onerous regulated structure (which I will remind you I have been a part of for 8 years) are upset, and are even legally opposing the hemp industry, which seemingly gets to do whatever they want. And I 100% agree that hemp industry standards should require testing, potency limits, product consistency, etc. I do believe in ensuring consumer transparency and safety. But the bottom line is that no comprehensive regulations currently exist for the hemp operators to adhere to - it’s a patchwork of regulations governed by the states, and some states have no regulations at all. So do not blame operators for creating products and running business when they have no guidelines or laws to adhere to. One thing I learned early on is that when you work in illicit drugs, people get really really creative. I might not agree with a lot of the products out there, but guess what, I’m also not going to buy them. As Lauren wrote, “Those operating in the hemp D8 and D9 space are able to get away with a lot right now. Some are going further than others to ensure their product is as safe as the best in the adult-use market, and those are the only ones I recommend working with/consuming.”

Ok, I’m stopping here, because honestly, I’m hungry, I need a snack, and the vast majority of you aren’t gonna read this whole thing. Look for part 2 coming soon! #cannabis #cannabisindustry #hemp