It used to be illegal to grow hemp in Vermont because it is, scientifically, the same plant as marijuana. But hemp doesn’t have nearly as much of the psychoactive substance THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) that marijuana does. (Hemp plants can contain no more than 0.3 percent (by dry weight); marijuana typically contains 5 to 20 percent THC.) With the boom in the use of CBD (cannabidiol) oils and other hemp products, hemp farms have sprung up around Vermont — more than 800 growers on nearly 8,000 acres this summer. The MontKush organization farms on land in Plainfield and scores of workers were harvesting and processing hemp there last week. Click here for something about MontKush.  Click here for a gallery. Thanks to Terry Allen for getting me out into the fields.
