Evolution of Cannabis Plants into Fiber, Food, Drug and Weed Kinds

Humans have selected divergent kinds of cannabis plants (Cannabis sativa), differing in anatomy, chemistry and physiology, to supply diverse economic products. Unfortunately both scientific and vernacular names employed to label genetically distinctive wild and domesticated forms of Cannabis are widely misunderstood. For simplicity, “industrial hemp” is the correct label for low-THC plants cultivated for stem fiber and/or oilseed, while “marijuana” is advisedly reserved for high-THC plants grown for intoxicating drugs. In the past, the cannabis plant was one of the world’s most admired crops, furnishing a range of indispensable materials. In the 20^thcentury, however, exaggerated fear of the abuse potential of cannabis resulted in extremely punitive and counter-productive suppression, not just of marijuana, but of the useful industrial and consumer commodities of the cannabis plant. Also short-sighted have been campaigns in North America to eliminate wild hemp (“ditchweed”), which harbors valuable genes for breeding. Cannabis has phenomenal potential to provide new products, and to generate extensive employment and substantial profits. Medical and recreational aspects of cannabis have captured the limelight, but there is also an urgent need to assess the pros and cons of industrial hemp from the perspectives of research, technological applications and business investment. Economic subsidization in Europe in the 1990s allowed resurrection of the abandoned usage of hemp for fiber purposes, but it is unlikely that hemp can regain a substantial share of the fiber market. By contrast, the future of oilseed hemp is extremely promising. Although hempseed has been eaten since ancient times, for most of history it has been of little importance, and so it has considerable genetic potential for improvement in yield and quality. Hempseed and hempseed oil are astonishingly nutritional, with excellent prospects for human and livestock consumption. Moreover, hemp is far richer in CBD, the principal medicinal cannabinoid, than is marijuana.