Hemp and the East Coast Cannabis Conference

While attending the East Coast Cannabis Conference in Portland, Maine, I learned a lot about hemp and was really inspired. Hemp could do wonders for sustainable industries and the economy! The Cannabis community in Maine is budding and growing quickly because they are well on their way to legalization. Under state law, it’s now legal for anyone to grow up to 6 Cannabis plants. New businesses are popping up and people are moving there to participate in the industry. There's even a "Ganja Girl Gang" in Maine.

At the conference, I discovered a bunch of great hemp derived CBD products, including body products made by The Healing Rose, which I’m in LOVE with. Also CBD suppositories, whooaa, has anyone else tried those?!

Hemp is a powerful plant can be used for A LOT of things. In his book Hemp Horizons: The Comeback of the World’s Most Promising Plant, John W. Roulac says “Hemp is the world’s most versatile fiber. Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or pertroleum (including plastics) can be made from hemp. There are more than 25,000 known uses for hemp!”

So what’s the difference between Marijuana and Hemp? They are both Cannabis, different genetic varieties of the genus “Cannabis” produce more THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) than others. A Cannabis plant is considered “hemp” if it contains less than .3% THC.

Here are 5 incredible uses for hemp:

Hemp fibers can be used to make paper. America’s founding fathers were hemp enthusiasts, the first 2 drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper! Using hemp fibers to make paper would save trees :) I’ve read that we could save around 4 billion trees per year if we switched back to using hemp for paper instead of fiber.

Hemp foods! The seeds and oil from hemp seeds are highly nutritious. They are high in Omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids, which we’ll need more plant based solutions for as fish becomes less available. They also provide protein, fiber and trace minerals. AND hemp allergies are far less common than peanut or tree nut allergies!

Hemp is a loved fabric of fashion designers. It’s lightweight, absorbent and longlasting. It’s also weather resistant. It can be woven with other fibers to produce different types of fabrics, hemp/silk and hemp/cotton blends work well. Calvin Klein said “I believe hemp is going to be the fiber of choice in both the home furnishings and fashion industries.”

Hempcrete is AMAZING. It’s a building material that is breathable, mold & pest resistant, fire resistant and offers insulation, reducing heating costs!

And of course the health benefits of CBD (Cannabidiol) oil! Which is not psychoactive, reduces anxiety, reduces nausea, helps people with epilepsy, helps fight cancer...and so much more!

Great, now let’s make hemp fully legal everywhere and get to work making incredible things with it.

BTW I’ll likely be posting on hemp, it’s uses and benefits more because I’m super excited about it and I’m studying a lot, I’ll keep you up to date on what I learn and my journey with this amazing plant!

Read my intro post :)