Hemp v. MJ
My name is Peter LaFontaine. I own a small local delivery hemp company called The Fountain Cannabis Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. What makes us stick out from other hemp vendors is that we only sell naturally occurring cannabinoid products and avoid bio-semi-synthetics such as delta-8 THC, HHC, and THC-P. I first used cannabis when i was 15 years old and have used it ever since. Im 35 now. I have seen the transitions the cannabis game has made throughout the years while living in Florida where we had a strain called “Crippy” going all around being sold for $20 a gram. I have been studying cannabinoids since 2017 while in college completing my associates of applied science.
In 2018, the farm bill was passed which removed cannabis that was 0.3% or less Delta-9 THC per dry weight. The bill was so poorly written with basic cannabis science being disregarded by our representatives. They used data from decades ago based on a theory of an individual. People tend to confuse “Total THC” results with “Delta-9 THC” results which cause an array of confusion in the culture. When you purchase flower from a dispensary, the lab results attached to the container typically read as:
Total THC %
Delta-9 THC %
THCa %
Federal law only focuses on the Delta-9 THC levels to determine if cannabis is classified as Hemp or Marijuana. Some states have taken the initiative to make their own state level hemp laws which replace the language “Delta-9 THC” with “Total THC”, making hemp as 0.3% Total THC or less. These states such as Ohio are starting to learn that going by 0.3% Total THC or less is NOT a viable option in determining if a crop is hemp or marijuana. This is most likely one reason the Ohio Department of Agriculture is giving control of hemp to the USDA which follows federal standards. On a retail level Ohio has no regulatory structure for retail hemp sales leaving it in a grey area.
The hemp v. Marijuana war has caused lies and rumors to spread about the hemp industry. People have been confused into thinking marijuana and intoxicating hemp are two different things. All cannabis that is psychoactive is rich in THCa, which when exposed to heat converts to Delta-9 THC. There is no such thing as cannabis that is all THC without THCa, it not scientifically possible. What people are confusing are the Total THC levels they see on packaging. That Total THC result is obtained by doing the following equation:
THCa % * 0.877 + Delta-9 THC %= TOTAL THC
Total THC results on flower ALWAYS have THCa as the dominant cannabinoid in its raw form multiplying it by 0.877 which is the input for the heat exposure which converts it to Delta-9 THC. You then add that result with the already active Delta-9 THC on the plant in its raw form. In dispensaries, Total THC is labeled as the main result due to the assumption that that flower purchased will be smoked or vaped. In the hemp industry, we legally cannot promote or encourage smoking hemp and we refer to psychoactive hemp as “THCa flower” instead since THCa is NOT a controlled substance and is NOT used to determine if cannabis is hemp or marijuana. Even though in reality its the same as marijuana, because if it was NOT grown within a hemp program it would’ve otherwise been classified as marijuana. The only reason it is not marijuana is due to the legal process performed while growing the crop. Does this make sense logically? Of course not, which is why we have to advocate and reach out to our representatives to push them to do this the right way once and for all by removing ALL cannabis from the controlled substance list. Once we remove the use of terminology such as “hemp” or “marijuana” and start calling it by is true name, Cannabis, then people will start to realize and learn that its all the same. That these terminologies used only bought confusion amongst cannabis users.
So with hemp v. Marijuana, multi-state corporations are attempting to destroy the hemp industry due to growers not having to pay yearly fees like state level growers. They feel threatened by this industry and know if more people knew the truth, that it would severely hurt state level marijuana industries across the country. My belief is that these companies should be taking advantage of the hemp space but instead are focusing on monopolizing it and criminalizing anyone who grows to sell or is independently involved with their own home grows. They want to funnel as much people possible to dispensaries to get their cannabis and kill any other avenue of obtaining this plant. This practice is sick and disrespectful to those who made sacrifices when it was still illegal, potentially even did time incarcerated, and now want a chance to enter the industry they once operated in when it was in the black market.
The hemp industry brings opportunities to those who wish to enter the cannabis industry with less financial stress than the state level industry. We need to put laws in place that prevent companies from monopolizing this industry and going state to state buying out all the licenses. Companies have already began to exploit Kentucky’s new medical program by buying all the entries for the lottery for licenses in the state. So if your one of those people who have been influenced by propaganda from the marijuana industry, keep that stuff to yourself because it makes true operators in the hemp realm like myself feel cringed by you.