rickbb said:
Actually hemp is not the same as cannabis. You'd have to smoke a pound of hemp to get the same effect as a single joint of cannabis. (Don't ask how I know this.
)
Cannabis, at one time, was synonymous with marijuana.
Over time, people wanted two different things.
-one group to get high
-the other to use its strength and versatility.
This lead to selectively breeding certain strains with one another to reach the desired effects/end products.
Hemp as we know it, is very low in THC (the psychoactive drug that some know and love) BUT its tensile strength is very high, as well as its CBD content (more on that in a minute)
Cannabis eventually split into two distinct paths, indica, and sativa. Both have their own idiosyncrasies and benefits.
Sativa, is a very tall plant (good for hemp and..) which has a very high cbd/thc ratio. It is good for growing outdoors, where some plants can grow up to 20ft tall.
Indica, is the "short-round" of the two, and has a higher thc/cbd ratio.
The general hemp manufacturing process happens in 40 some odd countries where sativa strains are left out to field where mother nature takes her course, male plants are more desireable for hemp as their thc content is very low. Hippies and the like, go for the female plants as it is their buds (that are resinous flowers-looking to soak up any pollen in their sticky-icky traps) that contain the mass majority of thc and cannabinoids.
Nowadays, the highs and lows of indica vs sativa are mind-numbingly intricate, as over the generations, people have still been selectively breeding to try to get the best high/hemp/medicine/etc..
Where in their family tree the Hops family comes along? I do not know exactly.
But, i do know that hemp is being used for much more nowadays than just its strong fibers.
-one place sites it is being used in making a supercapacitor, to make the idea of fast-charging, cheap batteries a real possibility
-hemp is also being used to make new plastics
-plus a great deal more.
I should probably stop ranting about this plant...otherwise i might be seen as *one of those guys* 8) :mrgreen:
A couple websites for the curious minded-
http://www.leafscience.com/2014/09/16/5-differences-hemp-marijuana/
http://www.leafscience.com/2014/06/19/indica-vs-sativa-understanding-differences/
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/whats-difference-between-hemp-and-marijuana
-topher, the-damn-dirty-hippie-that-wants-to-change-the-world-but-just-smokes-and-smells-like-skunks
Edit to fix continuity of text