Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has vowed to run intoxicating hemp products out of Missouri, banning their sale and threatening penalties to any business that makes or sells them.
In many ways, it's the latest showdown between the marijuana industry — which has operated legally in Missouri since 2018 but is outlawed federally — and the hemp industry, whose products were legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill.
But at the end of the day, what's the difference between intoxicating hemp products and intoxicating marijuana products? Hemp and marijuana are essentially terms the government uses to distinguish between the part of the cannabis plant that can get you high when smoked – that's marijuana – and the part that can't — that's hemp.
It all boils down to their THC content or their psychoactive component. Any part of the plant containing 0.3% or less THC by dry weight is defined as hemp. That means if you were to smoke a joint of dried hemp, you shouldn't get high.
Read more on Missouri Independent.