The environmental sustainability of hemp: common metrics and a consideration of cultivation geography

Hemp has been cultivated for centuries (Clarke, 1999), yet its more recent history has witnessed widespread regulatory hurdles resulting from its conflation with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis. In the US, in particular, hemp was effectively banned as an agricultural crop for the majority of the twentieth century (Fike, 2016). Given that hemp and THC cannabis are the same plant species (Cannabis sativa L.), lawmakers were decidedly hesitant to allow the advancement of an agricultural sector involving hemp (Small and Marcus, 2002). For instance, even as late as 2018, growers in the US were required to obtain a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in order to cultivate the plant (Dingha et al., 2019).