The Agriculture Act of 2018 or simply the Farm Bill was a law that finally legalized hemp. This was after decades of research dedicated to understanding the herb’s chemistry and the ways that it’s different from marijuana. This intensive research and study is what urged lawmakers to remove hemp from the list of controlled substances to recognize it as completely different from marijuana.
But while many other states enjoy the freedom of the use of hemp and all of the various products that are made from it, there are others that still impose unwritten rules on their locals in order to protect marijuana law. In the state of Wyoming, where marijuana remains completely illegal, hemp enthusiasts might not be able to exercise the fullness of their freedom.
Hemp is completely legal, and that means there are no penalties or fines for being caught using it. The only problem is that in states like Wyoming, hemp’s psychoactive bother, marijuana, remains illegal. And while they’re aren’t the same thing, the uncanny resemblance between the two herbs poses a problem.
According to the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp is any part of the cannabis plant containing 0.3% tetrahydrocannbinol (THC) or less. That means that if the sample contains even slightly more than this, it’s legally considered marijuana. In the state of Wyoming, marijuana is illegal for recreational use, and it remains a criminal offense to own, sell, use, and grow.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why most people think twice about using hemp in public areas. Without anything else telling the two herbs apart, hemp could be easily mistaken for marijuana. On the upside, law enforcement officers are no longer allowed to apprehend supposed offenders based on appearance and odor alone since the two herbs are so much alike.
But then again, they can confiscate hemp and send it to a lab for testing if they feel that there isn’t enough evidence to support that what you’re using is hemp. All things said, it’s best to just leave the raw flower at home and use other forms of hemp when you’re out and about.
Since hemp flower can lead to some inconvenience especially when used in public, it comes as no surprise that most people turn instead to edible forms of hemp. Gummies, candies, capsules, flavored tinctures, peanut butter, cookies, brownies and more – these are just some of the interesting food items that are infused with hemp these days.
No doubt, it seems like every kind of food and drink that you can think of has a hemp-infused counterpart. But for as widely available as hemp edibles are – even in Wyoming – they aren’t legal. The FDA has yet to approve hemp extract as a food additive, so combining them with any sort of food or drink and then selling the outcome is illegal. They’re also not approved as health supplements, so even tinctures and capsules are out of the question.
Even then, it seems no one wants to act on the regulation, so the products are sold left and right without repercussions. That means you can buy them at your local convenience store or through your favorite online vendor without having to worry about the police busting down your door.
If you’ve got a license to grow hemp, there shouldn’t be a problem. But for backyard farmers hoping to grow their own stash, it’s illegal to grow hemp in the state of Wyoming. And the reason for that is because errors in the cultivation process could produce marijuana instead of hemp. Since marijuana is illegal, the local government doesn’t want to take chances with locals accidentally or deliberately increasing THC levels.
The hemp market is thriving despite the restrictions that come as a result of marijuana law. In Wyoming where marijuana remains completely illegal, locals are urged to avoid using hemp in public spaces unless they be falsely accused of being in possession of marijuana. Other than that however, the freedom to use, purchase, and sell hemp products from edibles to topicals remains completely unencumbered.
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