Weed makes capsules, car parts, painkillers and even plastics

In medicine, Hemp is used in manufacture of drugs to treat arthritis, asthma, cough and warts. [Courtesy]

Developed countries are falling over each other to legalise marijuana and its sister-Industrial Hemp. Kenya has a Bill laying eggs in Parliament over legalising the same. While marijuana and Hemp are from the same cannabis family, they’re different: weed is a recreational, intoxicating substance, Hemp, on the other end of the joint, is a sub-species of the cannabis plant with benefits of industrial proportions. 

Marijuana is used for recreation as it has a higher level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound which leaves smokers feeling like touching the sky. Hemp has lower levels of tetrahydrocannabinol and thus not ideal for altering a person’s mental state via intoxication.