Colorado cannabis officials are tasked with figuring out how to stop marijuana and hemp pollen from mingling, but they need to learn more about the outdoors first. Although technically the same plant genus, marijuana, and hemp are grown for two different reasons in Colorado. Marijuana’s intoxicating compound, THC, is still banned federally, while hemp is farmed for industrial purposes or extracted for non-intoxicating medicinal compounds, like CBD, as long as the hemp flowers have less than 0.3 percent THC. But the two plants can easily cross-pollinate miles away from each other when grown outdoors. As Colorado’s marijuana and hemp industries each expand and more growers opt to work outdoors, the issue of cross-pollination between hemp and marijuana has been a touchy yet urgent issue between the two trades. Marijuana plants grown for THC content are feminized and don’t have seeds, just like hemp grown for CBD. However, industrial hemp grown for grain and fiber is full of seeds and pollen, which can pollinate seedless cannabis plants, including hemp. Because hemp can’t legally test higher than 0.3 percent THC, cross-pollination between the two can result in heavy financial, quality, and potency loss for marijuana growers.
420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 10/26/2021 20:00:00