The Importance of US Hemp for CBD Products
CBD is legal to use in many places around the world. That means there are growers around the world cultivating CBD for public use. But some would say there is an importance of US hemp for CBD products used by US citizens. You will find that all PlantMD products use US-grown hemp for a reason.
What is the importance of US hemp for CBD products? There is more to it than just supporting the US economy when buying US-grown CBD. Did you know that CBD is legal in many countries worldwide? Australia, for example, legalized CBD in 2021, Germany in 2017, and the UK in 2018.
Of course, CBD is also legal in other countries, and the legalization for public use has been happening more in recent years. But what does the worldwide legalization of CBD have to do with CBD products in the US? The importance of US hemp for CBD products used by US citizens doesn’t start with the CBD itself.
We have to remember that not every country operates the same as the US. You can see the differences in political systems, but you can also see them on a much more daily-life level. For example, you won’t find the same products at the grocery store in the UK as you will in the US.
You also won’t see the same CBD products in the UK as you would in the US. But more importantly, you won’t find the same growing standards in the UK as you will in the US. In fact, that leads us to the importance of US hemp for CBD products we use daily.
Growing CBD
You will not find a CBD plant at your local gardening shop. Instead, you will need to find hemp or cannabis plants. CBD is a compound that can be extracted from hemp or cannabis plants through a rigorous process. But the importance of US hemp for CBD products starts long before the extraction of the CBD itself.
In fact, the significance goes back to the Farm Bill of 2018. The US began allowing the growth of hemp back in 2014 for research purposes only. This allowed researchers to grow hemp plants for the purpose of study in small amounts. But the Farm Bill of 2018 opened the fields up for farmers to grow hemp so that the market could be opened for selling CBD products.
Consumer Standards
You may think that the entire world is on the same page regarding manufacturing standards protecting citizens. However, the world is rarely on the same page, leading to significant differences in the standards upheld by governments for manufacturing.
For example, farm-raised salmon in the US is fed astaxanthin which gives it the coral color we know and love. But astaxanthin is illegal in Australia and New Zealand. Another example would include chicken. Chicken in the US is washed in chlorine, reducing the risk of disease spreading.
The practice of chlorine-washing chicken is illegal in the UK and EU. One would think that the science behind these things would make it so that it’s seen the same way worldwide. However, that is simply not the case, and it comes down to outlook on the matter.
Farm Bill of 2018
The Farm Bill of 2018 is where the importance of US hemp for CBD products begins. The Farm Bill opened up the borders keeping CBD out. Farmers were allowed to start growing hemp plants in more significant volumes, hemp was allowed to be shipped across state lines, and the sale of hemp-derived products became legal.
However, there is a major caveat, and this is the importance of US-grown CBD; regulations. The Farm Bill of 2018 imposed regulations that were meant to help keep consumers safe while consuming hemp-derived products. The difference in consumer standards is why US-grown hemp-derived products are the best.
For example, hemp plants absorb heavy metals from the soil. Asian farms can use industrial hemp when rotating crops to refresh the soil. This means they use hemp plants to clean the soil before the next growing season starts. Unfortunately, that means the hemp plants are used to absorb heavy metals from the soil, and those metals will end up in the CBD.
The Regulations
The importance of US hemp for CBD products all comes down to the regulations US farmers must meet to sell hemp for consumer products. There are plenty of regulations, but only a few that matter most. The first is the amount of THC in the hemp plant.
There must be less than .3 percent THC in the plant, which means there will be far less than .3 percent in the CBD products that use American-grown hemp plants. Another regulation revolves around who will be approving farmers to grow hemp.
Farmers must undergo a rigorous process before being approved to grow hemp. This process is meant to ensure the land is suitable, the conditions are safe, and the laws are being followed. Lastly, there are heavy punishments for breaking these laws, some of which can even lead to a felony.
Ultimately, US farmers are held to a much higher standard than worldwide, which is why US-grown is so essential. You can rest assured knowing that products wholly made in the US, like all PlantMD products, have gone through testing and passed.
