It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for... weed? Industrial hemp, including several low THC cultivars of Cannabis sativa, used to be a common crop in the Midwest, with production boosted in the 1940s during World War II. Production of industrial hemp was essentially banned in 1970 with the Controlled Substances Act, due to the difficulty those without botanical experience had in differentiating between high and low THC cultivars. By then plenty of plants had escaped cultivation, and they’re commonly found along roadsides, train tracks, and fields, resulting in common names like “ditch weed”. “Ditch weed” is a prohibited noxious weed in several states due to its negative effect on farm equipment (it was used to make hemp, after all) and similarity to high THC cultivars.
