Lawmakers seem ready to consider the “Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,” more commonly known as the “Farm Bill.” It contains much needed support for farmers reeling from effects of climate related changes and a trade war. It could pass as early as next week and be on the President’s desk for signature before Christmas. While the full text of the Farm Bill has yet to be released (latest markup is here), a major provision of the bill will be to make hemp legal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the Amendment to make hemp legal and has gone on record to guarantee that his proposal - to make hemp a legal agricultural commodity, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances - will be part of the final farm bill.     

Hemp, a cannabis plant, is currently a Schedule 1 controlled substance but does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. There are 1,242 pages of text in the draft bill, so here’s the relevant part describing hemp:

“(1) HEMP.—The term ‘hemp’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, ...more