Marco Moran can’t keep from chuckling about what he says is an old, tired stereotype — that hemp and marijuana are one and the same.
They each come from the Cannabis plant, but their uses are much different. Hemp is an ingredient in a slew of everyday products easily found everywhere from grocery stores to specialty shops. Marijuana, on the other hand, can be fairly easily found on the street and land you in prison should you be caught with it.
Moran, a licensed pharmacist and president of Clinton’s Dewmar International, sees a world of potential for his business to grow by testing and developing products utilizing hemp, for both general commercial use and as part of the burgeoning medical-marijuana industry.
“It’s a tough road to climb,” Moran admits, as neither hemp cultivation nor medical-marijuana use are allowed in Mississippi. But he says attitudes are changing enough on both to raise great potential for his five-year-old company, which specializes in “relaxation drinks,” to grow.
Hemp typically is derived from higher-growing varieties of the Cannabis plant that have lower concentration of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, than the low-growing version of the plant that marijuana is commonly derived from. Hemp is used in non-dairy milk, shelled seed, soaps, lotions and many other goods.
Hemp products are legal, but growing hemp often isn’t, depending on a state’s laws. Hemp supporters tout its health qualities, such as its amino acids and Omega fatty acids, suggesting hemp could play a significant role in medical-marijuana treatment.
The 2014 federal Farm Bill allows farmers to grow hemp for research purposes in conjunction with universities or other research institutions, but only in states where the general practice is legal. This could open up further opportunities for a hemp-products industry that notched $581 million in retail sales in 2013, a figure 24 percent higher than in 2012, according to the Hemp Industries Association.
Moran says he’s assembling an advisory group of local physicians to brainstorm possible products to be used for hemp or medical-marijuana purposes.
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