Following a long process of working through the bureaucratic regulations of U.S. Hemp Politics, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has sowed the seeds of their first legal crop of hemp.
The greenhouse on UNL’s East Campus is now home to 150 hemp plants.
Industrial hemp has mere traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component that marijuana contains, but because the two plants are closely related, they are considered equal in the list of Schedule 1 drugs, along with heroin, LSD and ecstasy.
Tom Clemente, a professor of biotechnology and hemp researcher at UNL, said you could get higher off of a corn plant than you can on hemp.
The classification of hemp as a Schedule 1 drug has made it impossible to farm hemp in the U.S. for years. But in 2014 the federal government introduced the Farm Bill, which allows for industrial hemp to be grown for research purposes. So far at least 30 states have signed up for the program.
Click here to read more.
