Alaskan lawmakers know the difference between Hemp vs. Marijuana, and they’re one step away from making hemp cultivation legal. The general public, however, remains skeptical.
Several years ago, Niki Raapana formulated Alaska’s first Hempfest, but it was not a welcome event for everyone. Faced with much public opposition, many supporters of the event backed out. Similarly, last year’s Hempfest experienced a negative response, and some of the venues pulled out unexpectedly.
Despite the skepticism among local residents around industrial hemp, the politicians are all for it and they’re forging ahead. The Alaska Legislature recently passed a bill that will initiate a hemp industry in the state, beginning with a hemp pilot program.
Hemp is a separate species of cannabis sativa from marijuana, and although they look the same, they are very different plants. Hemp contains less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component in marijuana that gives a high.
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