Centuries of traditional cultivation practices give hemp the amazing spectrum of natural benefits that humankind have sought out for millennia.
Cannabis is a complex plant, with hundreds of other compounds – like terpenoids and flavonoids – that appear to work together synergistically with the dozens of cannabinoids in the plant.
That’s why we aren’t “CBD only” and it’s why we only develop products that use agricultural hemp that retains all of these natural plant compounds. We don’t feel it is necessary to modify cannabis, especially not through genetic modification or plant cloning practices.
We are only beginning to understand the dozens of other cannabinoids, many of which are the subjects of emerging science that indicates that they, too, could have immense therapeutic potential. We are working with legislators and research institutions to rectify these misunderstandings through rigorous science and open conversations with lawmakers both in the U.S. and internationally.
Cannabis cultivators have spent decades breeding out CBD to increase THC (the two compounds have an inverse relationship), disrupting the natural balance of compounds in cannabis.
While high THC is ideal for recreational cannabis, the push for this CBD/THC imbalance has led to many misunderstandings and misinformation about the capabilities of the cannabis plant. We believe in making consumer products from cannabis that’s closer to how it has always grown in nature – low in THC and high in CBD instead. (As an aside, since the 1970s, the average THC levels in cannabis have risen from around 1%-3% to over 11% – and as high as 30%. Hemp typically has less than 0.5% THC.)
We further prefer natural hemp as an investment because it is far less expensive to produce, is more sustainable (both environmentally and from a labor perspective), and is more scalable than marijuana cultivation. We eagerly anticipate the day when the United States joins Australia, Great Britain, France, Canada, and dozens of other nations that cultivate hemp as a commodity.
In summary: Preserving the cannabis plant as it grows in nature is important to us. We believe nature had it right the first time, and that’s why we support research into the synergistic properties among all the compounds in natural, minimally modified cannabis such as what is commonly called “hemp.”
