Hemp

Hemp is a common name for Cannabis and the name most used when this annual plant is grown for non-drug purposes. These include the industrial purposes for which cultivation licences may be issued in the European Union and Canada. more...

In the United Kingdom licences are issued by the Home Office under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. When grown for industrial purposes hemp is often called industrial hemp (or industrial cannabis), and a common product is fiber for use in a variety of different ways.

Uses

Housing

70% of the Cannabis plant's total weight is made up of the 'hurd' or woody inner core. This part of the plant is THC free and can be used in housing construction. The silica leached from the soil by the plant combined with unslaked lime forms a chemical bond similar to cement which is both fire and waterproof.

Food

Hemp may be grown also for food (the seed) but in the UK cultivation licences are not available for this purpose. Within Defra (the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) hemp is treated as purely a non-food crop, despite the fact that seed can and does appear on the UK market as a perfectly legal food product.

In Canada, hemp seed food products are common and range from carbonated beverages to frozen waffles. Many companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the oils of the seed, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized as per international law), hulled hemp seed (the whole seed without the mineral rich outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder.

Nutrition

Contains a complete protein. Hempseeds and hemp seed oil are High in omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, and are in the ideal long-term ratio for human nutrition.

Medicinal

Has been used to relieve the symptoms of many physical ailments including but not limited to asthma, high blood pressure, glaucoma, tumors, nausea (eg, aids, cancer therapy, sea sicknes), epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, arthritis, rheumatism, emphysema, stress and migraine headache relief.

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