{"id":1272,"date":"2022-07-28T20:58:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T20:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomnews.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2025-11-12T19:50:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:50:48","slug":"hemp-vs-cannabis-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bloommarijuana.com\/education\/hemp-vs-cannabis-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp vs Cannabis: What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever wondered about the differences between hemp, cannabis, and marijuana? If so, you\u2019ve come to the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It might surprise you that the distinction between the terms cannabis and hemp is a fairly recent thing in historical terms. The same goes for the term marijuana, which was not introduced into the American lexicon until the early 1900s.

Before we get into the differences between these three terms today, let\u2019s start with a quick review of the history of cannabis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The History of Cannabis Goes Back Thousands of Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The domestication of cannabis can be traced back about 12,000 years (8000 BCE) to Asia. In addition to being used to make cords for pottery, hemp seed and hemp oil were also used for food.1
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After that, cannabis spread across various civilizations around the world. In 1550 BC, it was noted in an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge that cannabis can be effective in treating inflammation among other things.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward a few thousand years, to 1606 AD when hemp\/cannabis was introduced to what were then the British colonies. Hemp was used to make things like canvas, paper, cloth, ropes and sails. It played such an important role for the economy that in the 1700s, farmers were actually required to grow hemp.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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George Washington was said to grow hemp and it is also believed that early drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on paper made from hemp.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n


At this time in our country’s history there was little distinction between the terms hemp and cannabis. It wasn\u2019t until around 1753 that the scientific term of cannabis was used to describe the hemp plant in the US.4<\/sup>
So what exactly are the differences between hemp and cannabis according to current law? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemp vs. Cannabis  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018<\/strong> the determination of whether a plant is classified as hemp or cannabis comes down to the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n