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Pharmacology of Fibre Hemp

It is not easy to distinguish between industrial fibre hemp and the recreational of medical type of cannabis. The important points are:

  1. Fiber hemp is extremely low in THC.
  2. The main ingridience of the resin of fibre hemp is CBD, not THC. In fibre hemp where CBD levels are high, THC levels are low.
  3. The THC/CBD levels are genetically controlled factors. Although environmental, soil, and plant density conditions can effect the THC level to a certain degree, the genetic factors are most important. French monoecious cultivars used for paper such as Fibrimon 56 even if grown in optimal resinous drug producing conditions would still be useless for smoking or drug use. (You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!) Gilbert Fournier has said even if fiber hemp were….”abundantly widespread, gone wild, naturalised, it still would pose no danger.” Fournier, 1979, Cliff Schaffner Hemp Library
  4. determination of the type of cannabis can be done by a) genetical analysis b) chemical analysis of the resin

International agreements and standards recommend a level of THC in the fiber strains of less than 0.3% THC. (DeMeijer 1992) Most varieties are even less than this.


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De Meijer, E.P.M., et al, 1992. Characterisation of Cannabis accessions with regard to cannabinoid content in relation to other plant characters. Euphytica. 62 187-200.

Fournier, G., Paris, M.R., 1979. Le Chanvre Papetier (Cannabis Sativa L.,) Cultive en France: Le Point sur ses Constituants. (In French). Plantes Medicinales et Phytotherapie. Vol 13 (2) 116-121.

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