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A farmer displays healthy topsoil on a farm practicing regenerative organic farming techniques. Read more about regenerative farming on page 62.
editor’s note
sign the 2018 Farm Bill over a livestream on my computer. The moment felt surreal, like trying to read a message stuck behind a pane of warped glass. Advocates had been working towards this point for decades, and it had finally arrived, carrying with it both the flatness of reality and the joy of a long-held goal finally reached. As I scrambled to publish the news on HEMP’s website, I couldn’t stop thinking about just how many contradictions were trapped in this single, celebratory event. The 2018 Farm Bill was a momentous occasion for the hemp industry — perhaps the most important in the plant’s long history — and yet the president made no mention of hemp as he flourished his pen. The law he signed defined hemp as less than 0.3 percent THC, a line widely acknowledged to be an arbitrary distinction. The Farm Bill had codified a massive chasm between the “cannabis” industry and the “hemp” industry, despite the fact that both are concerned with the same plant and all the same cannabinoids (except one). And perhaps most significantly, the law unleashed a gigantic market, powered by growing hype around CBD, without putting forth any of the regulations that were necessary to support that market’s growth. In the months after the Farm Bill’s signing, we have seen the consequences of these contradictions. We’ve seen the celebration and new investment worthy of such an exciting development, but we’ve also seen police in Oklahoma and Idaho seize entire trucks filled with hemp flower, claiming the buds were marijuana. We’ve I WATCHED PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
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seen Texas officials arrest a man for possessing hemp-derived CBD oil, declaring it was a felony, even if it was THC-free. We’ve seen New York regulators crack down on storefronts selling CBD, with the state’s health department citing the fact the substance was “not approved as safe to eat” by the FDA. (The New York Times then reported that the health department claimed CBD was unsafe, in a perfect example of just how deep the confusion runs: No, the health department was only saying CBD was not yet approved as safe.) We put together this issue of HEMP in those first surreal post-legalization days. In this liminal space, from where I am writing right now, not only is the future of the hemp industry uncertain as we wait for federal regulations to come down, but our very present is muddled. The moment is crude oil after a harvest, waiting to be refined, filled with potential. Through the confusion, however, HEMP’s values have remained clear. We still know that we want sensible regulations that support small farmers, make amends for the war on drugs’ racist policies, improve affordable access to quality medicine, address the climate crisis, and ensure safe products for consumers. In this issue, each story can be viewed as our attempt to make sense of the current moment and put forth clear ideas of what the hemp industry can be.
Julia Clark-Riddell Executive Editor, HEMP
PHOTO COURTESY PATAGONIA
The first months of federal hemp legalization have been filled with confusion and potential, like crude oil after a harvest, waiting to be refined.
ISSUE SIX
Hemp is harvested on Kenneth Anderson’s farm outside Lexington, Kentucky, where he’s growing for GenCanna. Read more on page 50.
features
INSIDE CANADA’S MASSIVE MOVE TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS & HEMP 32
In late 2018, Canada’s Cannabis Act officially came into effect. Whether you view it purely from an acreage standpoint, as a newly opened market, or as a business opportunity with their neighbors to the south, Canada’s move is going to change the hemp game in a big way. By Kate Robertson KENTUCKY’S BIG MONEY HEMP 50
Inside GenCanna: The vertically integrated company with massive investment looking to set the industry standard. By Julia Clark-Riddell
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PHOTO BEN DROZ
FAST FASHION, HEMP TEXTILES, AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS 62 What we wear can either help battle climate change or exacerbate it. By Joel Hathaway
ISSUE SIX
Field leader Keith (left) helps harvest Hudson Hemp’s 2018 crop.
contents EDITOR’S NOTE 02 FROM THE ARCHIVES 87 HINDSIGHT 88 politics
industry
culture
STATE OF HEMP: A DECADE OF D.C. ADVOCACY 11
THE WALLS BLOCKING HEMPCRETE’S ACCEPTANCE 20
REGENERATIVE FARMING & THE PUSH FOR SOCIAL EQUITY AT HUDSON HEMP 40
THE AGE OF CANNABINOID ENLIGHTENMENT 15
Despite stringent restrictions on research, cannabinoid science has grown by leaps and bounds over the last three decades. In 2018, it culminated in the approval of the first FDAapproved, cannabis-derived pharmaceutical. How did we get here? By Annie Rouse
Though hempcrete is healthier for both a building’s occupants and the planet, high costs and lack of research stand in the way of widespread adoption. By Kit O’Connell HOW TO SOURCE VIABLE HEMP SEEDS 29
Whether sourcing domestically or internationally, U.S. hemp farmers have a myriad of options. But ensuring they don’t run afoul of the law and still receive quality, high-CBD seed requires a bit of knowhow. By A.J. Herrington
In an industry that often seems disproportionately male and white, Hudson Hemp Company is bucking that trend, committing themselves to social and environmental justice. By K. Astre CBD-INFUSED COCKTAILS: THREE RECIPES FOR A HAPPIER HAPPY HOUR 72
The art of the CBD-infused cocktail is gaining popularity, and for good reason. Adding CBD to your nightcap has a few not-so-surprising benefits that are totally worth raising a glass. By Liz Schoch
THE LIST: HEMP FOR SELF-CARE 79
Here are HEMP’s picks for 2019’s best hempbased products for regenerative relaxation —— because you deserve to be pampered. 06 thehempmag.com
PHOTO COURTESY HUDSON HEMP
A federal hemp lobbyist recounts the years he worked for the hemp legalization cause on Capitol Hill, culminating in the 2018 Farm Bill —— and considers what the future could bring. By Ben Droz
Hudson Hemp’s farm in New York state features the crop grown in aesthetic, swooping rows.
Publisher
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Todd Heath Executive Editor
Julia Clark-Riddell Associate Editor
Joel Hathaway Copy Editor
Katie Way Contributing Editor
Ben Droz Account Executive
Shelby Nelson Support Associate
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facebook.com/hempmagazine instagram.com/hempmag twitter.com/hempmag CONTRIBUTORS
Isabelle Kuhn Andrew Martin Kit O’Connell Kate Robertson Jim Richardson Annie Rouse Jeremy Sachs-Michaels Liz Schoch
On the Cover The Highland Hemp House,
built by Hempitecture, is constructed in Bellingham, WA. Photo by Kristen Angelo
H E M P. C O
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HEMP TODAY MEDIA, LLC
PHOTO JEREMY SACHS-MICHAELS
Kristen Angelo Peter Crosby Francisco Freeman Ryan Garcia Emily Joan Greene K. Astre A.J. Herrington Robin A. W. Kelley
contributor
SP OTLI G HT is the cofounder of Anavii Market, an online retailer of premium verified CBD oil, and a newly elected member of the Hemp Industries Association Board of Directors. She is writer, producer, and narrator of the podcast series, “Anslinger: The Untold Cannabis Conspiracy.” You can follow her life’s work on ThinkHempyThoughts.com. ANNIE ROUSE
is a freelance writer from San Diego, California covering hemp and cannabis. His work has been published by HEMP, High Times, OC Weekly, and other publications. A.J. HERRINGTON
is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. Before developing a cannabis beat, she was the online and social media manager at Toronto’s alt-weekly NOW Magazine, where she was nominated for a Digital Publishing Award. Find her advice column, Weedsplainer, at Lift & Co. and more of her Canadian news coverage at Weedmaps.
is the editor-inchief of the Ministry of Hemp. A gonzo journalist from Austin, Texas, his work has also appeared in Yes! Magazine, Truthout, Firedoglake, The Establishment, and the Texas Observer. KIT O’CONNELL
KATE ROBERTSON
is a nutritionist and creator of the Inspector Gorgeous blog, where she creates plant-based, low-sugar recipes. She enjoys food photography, old cookbooks, and vegetarian sushi. You can find her work at inspectorgorgeous.com LIZ SCHOCH
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state of hemp
Advocates gather for the Hemp Industries Association Lobby Day in 2017. The author is smiling on the far right.
VICTORY FO R H E M P : A DECA DE O F D.C . ADVO C ACY A federal hemp lobbyist recounts the years he worked for the hemp legalization cause on Capitol Hill, culminating in the 2018 Farm Bill — and considers what the future could bring. Wo r d s a n d P h o t o s B y B e n D r o z
I first arrived in Washington, D.C. in 2008. President Barack
Obama had just been elected, bringing a new wave of electrified idealism, fresh ideas, and the perspective of the nation’s first black president to the White House. The entire city felt different. It was in this wave that I began my working with Vote Hemp, a longtime federal hemp lobbying organization, following the insatiable passion for hemp I had felt for years. I could not have been more excited to get my feet wet and my hands dirty. For the hemp industry in 2008, the most important piece of federal legislation to follow was the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, a perfectly elegant and concise bill that fit beautifully on a single sheet of hemp paper. Sponsored by Ron Paul, a Republican representative from Texas, and introduced before the Tea Party movement began, the bill was like an outcast in an era of increasing party-line gridlock. While a handful of representatives on both sides of the aisle supported the bill, cannabis prohibition still reigned strong, so the legislation had no chance of passage. But that didn’t stop me from dedicating my life to changing this reality. In 2009, I moved to D.C. to work full time, around the clock, to legalize hemp in America. There had already been a national movement throughout the country, so I had much to talk about with advocates from different states. I walked the halls of
the Capitol, going door to door, getting as many meetings as I could, and talking about hemp to anyone that would listen. Congressional staffers were open to quick briefings on the individual hemp movement in their states, despite the ongoing ban on any type of hemp cultivation. Through countless meetings with Congressional staff, the movement grew — slowly. In 2009, we launched Hemp History Week, a nationwide effort to educate and lobby for hemp, and in 2010, it was recognized on the House floor. On December 20, 2018, President Donald Trump signed federal hemp legalization into law, but guaranteeing the stark sweeps of a presidential signature on hemp legalization certainly did not happen overnight. To the quintessential grassroots movement, this historical moment was the result of decades of activism and advocacy. In order to understand the true importance of this Farm Bill, it is important to understand the history of the modern hemp movement. OUT FROM TOTAL PROHIBITION
It all started in 1985, with the first publication of “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” by the legendary Jack Herer. This landmark book wove together the story of cannabis prohibition, while highlighting the incredible history of hemp. It bought to light pieces of the American past that had been
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Congressman Thomas Massie hangs a handmade hemp paper plaque, made by Elisha Shalom of Artisan Hemp, showing the language of “The Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill of 2013.”
buried for decades, and centuries, in the Library of Congress and beyond. With contextualization of modern history, Jack Herer immediately sparked the modern hemp movement. In 1994, the Hemp Industries Association was formed by a coalition of companies that sold imported hemp products. That same year, Canada began pilot hemp programs, and in 1998, Canada began producing hemp, which became a robust export to the U.S. health food market. Throughout the next decade, the DEA would continue to deny the opportunity for a legitimate hemp industry in the United States. In a model for legislative activism at the state level, dozens of states filed bills, time and time again, to legalize hemp. Many bills passed, many bills got vetoed, and many resolutions then passed unanimously. This led to a beautiful patchwork of pro-hemp laws in place, without a vehicle to legally grow hemp. Even as the medical marijuana industry took root, hemp was not yet defined. 2013 was a watershed year for hemp. The grassroots movement across the country, and hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill, had created a swell of momentum and the green waves started coming to shore. On Valentine’s Day that year, Sen. Ron Wyden introduced the Senate Hemp Farming Act. This time, he was joined by Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Later in the year, when the Farm Bill came up, Colorado’s Rep. Jared Polis (now governor of the state) introduced House Amendment 208. This was the first time hemp had ever received
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a vote. It not only passed with a healthy bipartisan margin, but was vastly improved and expanded on behind closed doors by the Majority Leader. The result was SEC 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill, the now renowned piece of legislation that allowed states to immediately begin moving forward with pilot hemp programs. With language and precedent under our belts, and support from our emboldened coalition, we looked at new federal actions. Inspired by the “Rohrabacher Amendment,” an amendment that stopped the federal government from using funding to target state-legal medical marijuana companies, we looked at omnibus appropriations language. Just days before a vote, law enforcement in Kentucky seized a shipment of viable hempseeds destined for James Comer, then Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. Comer sued the DEA to get the hemp, and Congressman Thomas Massie filed an amendment specifically to protect hemp pilot programs. Late that night, two separate hemp amendments passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, directly followed by passage of the “Rohrabacher Amendment,” which was first introduced in 2001. Hemp in Congress had reached entirely new heights, and with it came a shift in advocate understanding of what was possible. We knew we had the votes to legalize hemp farming … and so the question became how. We knew that filing our language as an amendment in the Farm Bill was our best bet, and it all came together as well as we could have ever expected.
RIGHT: The Hemp Industries Association met for its annual conference in 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky.
“Hemp has alr eady demonstrated that it can be pr ofitable and will be an impor tant new tool for family farmers.” — E r i c S t e e n s t r a A BIG PUSH FROM CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
The mid-2010s were characterized by a rising tide for hemp, with more and more companies, events, and conferences coming onto the scene every year. Articles about and support for hemp were now a daily occurrence. Hemp went from an extreme niche product sparsely available at food co-ops, into a widely known superfood available across the country, as part of a growing natural foods industry lead by Whole Foods and USDA Organics. It’s important to remember: 10 years ago, cannabis still carried a harsh taboo, medical marijuana was just beginning, and recreational cannabis wasn’t yet on the table. The knowledge that hemp was different from marijuana was still esoteric. Five years ago, there were major waves across the states that were just beginning to reach Capitol Hill. While many in the hemp industry are quick to distance themselves from cannabis, it’s clear to me that the cannabis legalization movement further spurred support for hemp. Election after election showed lawmakers that support for cannabis was strong. Then, new laws and significant tax revenues pushed cannabis into the mainstream, and with it, evermore education on the plant. By the time hemp was introduced into the 2018 Farm Bill, it was already well understood to be fundamentally different from marijuana. Meanwhile, acceptance for marijuana continued to grow as states raced to pass stronger laws to create opportunities for consumers and businesses. A big focus of the hemp industry recently has been on hemp-derived CBD, in part riding on the coattails of marijuana activists bringing the medical value of the CBD compound to the forefront of the converstaion. But hemp is so much more
than any singular cannabinoid, and that was always the attitude from the start. Eric Steenstra, co-founder Vote Hemp and the Hemp Industries Association, always had a much larger vision: to help farmers with a new commodity. “American farmers are struggling and hungry for new crops that are profitable,” he told me after the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill. “Hemp has already demonstrated that it can be profitable and will be an important new tool for family farmers.” SO, WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
Hemp legalization is much bigger than the current market can project, and it is part of much larger global shifts in agriculture, sustainability, and domestic manufacturing. I believe that the hemp movement can inspire other changes in countless industries. This new seed of innovation was planted by American hemp farmers, who make up a large part of our culture and economy. Yet family farms have been in crises for decades, and bankruptcies are still on the rise. Even today, over half of U.S. farms are not profitable. By helping the farmers first, hemp can transform our economy, help get us off of subsidized GMO corn and soy, and maybe even make widespread sustainable farming profitable. The supply chain of hemp can now be modernized and commodified. Jack Herer famously said, “I don’t know if hemp is going to save the world, but it is the only thing that can.” Just in the past few decades since he has said that, we have seen even more mounting crises in our agriculture systems, domestic manufacturing economies, climate, and ecosystems. We still do not know if hemp can save the world. But now, for the first time in the modern era, it has a chance to try.
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T H E AG E O F C A N N A B I N O I D ENLIGHTENMENT Despite stringent restrictions on research, cannabinoid science has grown by leaps and bounds over the last three decades. In 2018, it culminated in the approval of the first FDA-approved, cannabis-derived pharmaceutical. How did we get here? By Annie Rouse
PHOTOS COURTESY GW PHARMACEUTICALS
In the early 1990s , seven years into his practice, neurologist
Dr. Ethan Russo hit a crossroads in his career. He had to decide whether to continue prescribing increasingly toxic drugs to his patients, which were providing less and less benefit, or transition his research to traditional plant medicine to try to find a solution for migraine problems. So Dr. Russo packed his bags and headed to the depths of the Peruvian Amazon, where he could find the greatest number of plants used to treat headaches. While studying in the Amazon, he found a multitude of plants that were effective, but there was a catch. Many of the plants he found beneficial for migraines had one commonality: trace concentrations of dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is naturally produced in the human brain while we sleep and is believed to create our dream stimulation. In the U.S., the Department of Justice regulates DMT as a Schedule I narcotic, with no known medical benefit. But during Dr.
Russo’s studies, he found that the plants containing DMT at very low doses effectively treated headaches. Given the U.S.’s stance against DMT, Dr. Russo knew the chances of commercializing a migraine pharmaceutical using a plant containing it would be nearly impossible. But while Dr. Russo wrapped up his DMT plant research, California passed Proposition 215, legalizing medical cannabis. After the bill’s passage, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) quickly recruited Dr. Russo to lead research on studies for the use of cannabis to treat migraines. Over the next several years, Dr. Russo attempted to study these effects. But even though the research was approved by the FDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse refused to approve the floral material needed to perform the studies. Despite the road blocks, Dr. Russo kept writing and editing research related to cannabis, quickly becoming a near ubiquitous name on the published cannabis studies. Eventually, two doctors
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by the names of Geoffrey Guy and Brian Whittle took notice, requesting Dr. Russo join them at their newly formed company, GW Pharmaceuticals. The partnership would go on to birth the first FDA-approved cannabis medicine, derived from the plant and relying on cannabinoid medicine: Epidiolex. DEFINING CANNABINOIDS
In the retellings of many informal cannabis historians, the medical breakthroughs on cannabis surface in the 1990s. However, in reality, the 1990s’ burst of cannabis research was only a resurgence of understanding about the plant’s medical and therapeutic attributes. First, in the early 1800s, Dr. William O’Shaughnessy published some of the first recognized medical applications of cannabis. Then, in the late 1800s, according to Dr. Russo, another doctor by the name of Sir William Osler reported that cannabis was the “best treatment for migraines.” By 1934, the League of Nations reported that cannabis contributed to relief as “a mild counter irritant… for the relief of neuralgic pain; to encourage sleep; and to soothe restlessness,” but these supporting studies were lost with prohibition. However, none of this 1800s and early 1900s data seemed to matter much in the present until scientists discovered how endogenous cannabinoids and phytocannabinoids like CBD and THC interacted with the brain and body. “There are too many (breakthroughs) to count,” Dr. Russo says, but says the biggest breakthrough “would be the way cannabis relates to the endocannabinoid system. Basically, we have this plant
that has been used for thousands of years, and this physiological system that is not just in humans. But [this breakthrough] helps explain why cannabis is such a versatile medicine with certain diseases where other pharmaceuticals are not.” It was in 1988 that two researchers at St. Louis University, Allyn Howlett and William Devane, discovered that mammalian brains have receptor cites that respond to cannabis compounds. More research soon followed, with a 1990 study mapping the DNA sequence of a cannabinoid receptor and a 1992 study finding the first endocannabinoid, produced by the human brain itself. Dr. Russo describes the basic functions of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) as “eat, sleep, protect, and forget.” Once people started to understand the relationship between the ECS and cannabis-derived cannabinoids in the 1990s, it sparked scientific outcry to remove cannabis restrictions and open pathways for plant research. Rescheduling requests weren’t met, but this didn’t deter cannabinoid scientists, particularly Dr. Guy and his colleague
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Dr. Whittle. The duo proceeded to meet with the United Kingdom’s Chief Inspector (of the drugs branch), where they convinced the United Kingdom Home Office to grant a research program license. In the UK, GW Pharmaceuticals began procuring high-CBD varieties of cannabis and exploring drug delivery methods. At the same time in the U.S., National Institute on Drug Abuse researcher Dr. Aidan Hampson discovered that cannabinoids like CBD and THC had antioxidant properties. By 2003, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued patent 6630507, federally recognizing the antioxidant and neuroprotective properties of cannabinoids. EXPLORING CANNABINOIDS
The 2000s and beyond proved to be a clarifying decade for cannabinoids, as research mounted in favor of their medical and therapeutic benefits. By 2003, Dr. Russo had joined GW Pharmaceuticals full time as their senior medical advisor, serving as the liaison between clinicians and scientists while running the Phase I through Phase III clinical trials over the next 11 years. These trials included the development of Sativex (a 1:1 CBD to THC pharmaceutical) and the newly FDA-approved Epidiolex (a 98 percent CBD pharmaceutical). The clinical trials allowed cannabinoids to officially be tested on human subjects under medically accepted controlled environments, while providing GW Pharmaceuticals the opportunity to research, assess, and patent cannabinoid ratio outcomes and ingestion mechanisms. To date, the company holds over 40 patents for various appli-
cations that are narrow in focus. Plenty of the patents relate to cannabis and THC — not to hemp — but they still represent a growing trend relevant to the hemp industry: Cannabis medicine is increasingly focused on cannabinoids themselves, and how those cannabinoids can be incorporated in pharmaceuticals. REFINING CANNABINOIDS
As GW Pharmaceuticals expanded research, Dr. Russo focused on the synergistic effects of cannabis, later popularizing the term “entourage effect” to define the actions between the cannabinoids, terpenoids, and other compounds found in a whole plant extract. Dr. Russo explains cannabis as “an archetypal botanical medicine, meaning there is far more response from the total plant than single compounds.” The most noticeable proven effect of this interaction can be experienced when comparing the effects of the synthetic THC pharmaceutical, Marinol, with other whole plant cannabis material.
While GW Pharmaceuticals’ patents may open medical research into cannabinoid pharmaceuticals, the entourage effect offers an exciting future for cannabinoids and terpenoids and the finely tuned therapeutic possibilities for resolving individual problems. With hemp now federally legal, the FDA can openly take a stance on cannabinoid regulation. And because hemp has been defined as any cannabis plant with less than 0.3 percent THC, a legal market around individual cannabinoids (minus THC) is primed to explode. GW Pharmaceuticals has preached their willingness to keep cannabinoid “swim lanes” relating to pharmaceuticals, supplements, and food, but the FDA will make their own regulatory decision. The question is, how will the FDA react? Their current stance is that Epidiolex is the only FDA-approved CBD product, but that steps could be taken “providing potential
regulatory pathways for products.” The regulatory body requires any new dietary ingredient (NDI) to undergo approval within the FDA’s NDI process, an expensive pathway that only a handful of companies can afford. Major supplement brands will likely applaud this pathway, as it will remove smaller competitors from the market. Conversely, proving that CBD and hemp extract were marketed prior to 1994 when the NDI restrictions were implemented would significantly benefit the marketability of cannabinoid products from the smallest producers to the largest conglomerates. For now, the hemp industry is left to wait and see how the U.S. government decides to regulate cannabinoids, which in large part have been understood thanks to a few leading researchers, including one neurologist who went to the Amazon in search of a migraine cure.
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