Hemp Legality in the USA: The 2018 USA Farm Bill
Hemp has not always been easy to grow in the USA. However, laws changed in 2018 to allow for the commercial growth of hemp. They also coined a new term for hemp, “industrial hemp.” But where did things start? What has hemp legality in the USA been through to get us here?
Hemp legality in the USA has gone through a couple of stages that have led us to a point where CBD can be sold legally. You may have come across the term “industrial hemp” in your research for CBD products to explore. Industrial hemp is just the term used for hemp grown legally by the farming industry.
There is a reason we needed the term, and it has to do with regulation. For example, farmers must grow hemp with less than .3% THC. Remember, hemp plants are in the same family of plants that marijuana comes from, but that doesn’t mean they all get you high.
Industrial hemp is intended to ensure no psychoactive traits to the plants farmers grow and use for CBD products. But where did hemp legality in the USA get its start? Many people will refer to the 2018 Farm Bill that Congress passed to address many aspects of farming.
For example, the bill covered commodity support, conservation, research and extension activities, horticulture, and even livestock. But the 2018 Farm Bill also expanded upon regulation surrounding industrial hemp.
History of Hemp in the USA
Hemp arrived in the US in 1545 through Spanish colonization. The US saw the peak of hemp growth back in the mid-1800s. There were a couple of spikes in growth during both World Wars, respectively. Hemp was mainly used for its fibers, but then we saw a spike in jute, sisal, and cotton, decreasing the need for hemp fibers.
In fact, in 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act paved the way for higher taxes on hemp, which caused growth to shrink. The 1970 Controlled Substances Act created more legal hoops for farmers to jump through to grow hemp in the US. Both these Acts started a sharp decline in hemp growth and use in the US; it was just too expensive and challenging to grow legally.
That brings us to the US Agricultural Act of 2014.
Agricultural Act of 2014
Congress passed a bill known as the Agricultural Act of 2014, and on February 2, 2014, former President Obama signed the Act into law. The Act covered many aspects of farming, from commodity support to livestock. But one aspect of the Agricultural Act of 2014 opened the door wider for hemp in the USA.
The law had a research aspect that allowed farmers to grow hemp legally for research purposes. The goal was to enable farmers and scientists to study the benefits of hemp more easily. This occurred when the hemp industry was estimated to provide over $500 million in retail sales annually.
This was also when the term “industrial hemp” was coined. The term was meant to define a difference between hemp plants that were high in THC and fell under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 from legal hemp with low THC levels in the USA.
Things get more chaotic when we dive into state laws, as some states had previously legalized the growth of hemp. However, hemp was not legal federally, creating an environment where farmers risked federal raids. Ultimately, the important thing is that in 2014 the first mention of legalizing hemp in the USA federally came to pass.
The Research
Hemp legality in the USA has gone through a couple of iterations and will probably continue to do so as we move forward. However, the USA began working on hemp in 2014, researching as many different aspects of the plant, the seeds, and the benefits.
Universities and research labs outgrew the laws. The research was developing fast, and the laws started to make it difficult again to grow hemp in the USA. For example, researchers would need to submit a review conducted by the NIDA, the FDA, and the DEA. They would also need to jump through hoops like getting a letter of authorization from the NIDA.
Suffice it to say that growing hemp was legal for research purposes, but the laws slowed things down. These laws were understandable during a time when governments had to play a balancing act between industrial hemp and hemp growth that fell under the Controlled Substance Act. However, work went on, and studies continued until we got to 2018.
2018 Farm Bill
The 2018 Farm Bill didn’t open the doors but widened the opening for farmers interested in growing hemp. Congress passed the final version of the Farm Bill in December of 2018, and former President Trump signed the bill into law. This law was much like the law that was signed in 2014.
People referred to the Agricultural Act of 2014 as the Farm Bill, and now, in 2018, we have the officially titled Farm Bill of 2018. However, some differences opened some doors, closed some doors, and changed farming laws. One such example of a door opening more comprehensive is hemp.
The easiest way to look at hemp’s legal process is like a simple product. First, the product must undergo testing; then, it gets refined and turned into an actual product that can be sold. The Agricultural Act of 2014 started the testing phase of hemp as a product, and the 2018 Farm Bill finalized the process of legalizing hemp growth in the USA.
You can see that hemp legality in the USA has not been an easy journey. The goal of the 02018 Farm Bill was to allow hemp cultivation on a broader scale; ultimately, it changed hemp growth from research only to marketable goods. That is how we got CBD products in stores and available for purchase online.
