American Hemp by Jen Hobbs

Author:Jen Hobbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510743304
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2019-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

8

HEMP CURES POISONED LAND

The only time hemp can be potentially dangerous to mankind is if it is grown for consumption and the farmer isn’t aware of what the plant is absorbing. A 2005 study conducted in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria found that hemp exposed to arsenic, cadmium, chromium, iron, nickel, lead, mercury, and manganese stored those toxins in the leaves, and a smaller percentage of the toxins (mostly manganese) did enter the seeds. Nigerians who were growing hemp in this particular region were chewing on the leaves and creating cigarettes from the plant. They were also smoking it to provide relief from pains, aches, stresses, and so on.

Researchers conducted the study to determine if hemp consumption had any correlation with the “continuous and hostile crisis in the region” that has existed for decades between various religious groups and ethnicities.1 What they concluded was that the hemp was indeed laced with extremely dangerous heavy metals that exceed health limits set by the World Health Organization. Hemp was being grown on soil that was highly polluted by the oil industry, which was why the plants stored so much of these particular toxic materials. Locals had no idea that they were poisoning themselves with heavy metals every time they ingested hemp.

The study didn’t go so far as to make a direct correlation between the violence in the region and the consumption of heavy metals because there are a long list of historical and cultural reasons that factor into the Delta State situation, but if we take lead as an example and look at the impact of exposure to just one heavy metal, it’s easy to deduce that mass consumption of heavy metals could be exacerbating the hostilities.

In general, farmers have to be cautious of where they grow their hemp if the intent is to eat it or to extract CBD. Since CBD extraction methods typically use as much of the hemp plant as possible, it’s definitely not a good idea to produce CBD from hemp if the soil could be contaminated in any way. This is why when experts expressed concern for CBD-based products during the 2015 Senate Drug Caucus Hearing, I didn’t believe they were completely unwarranted, but they also certainly didn’t voice this concern, which was troubling, considering that they’re experts and all.

Come to think of it, this might be the one difference between hemp-CBD and marijuana-CBD: The hemp plant absorbs toxins from the ground as it grows, whereas the marijuana plant does not.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.