With OK from Congress, US hemp market set to boom

December 12, 2018 11:00 pm • Last Updated: December 13, 2018 12:39 pm

By Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press

In this September 2018 photo provided by Clarenda "Cee" Stanley-Anderson, Stanley-Anderson and her husband, Malcolm Anderson Sr., pose for pictures of their hemp-farming business, Green Heffa Farms, Inc., in Liberty, N.C. Hemp is about to get the federal legalization that marijuana, its cannabis cousin, craves. That unshackling at the national level sets the stage for greater expansion in an industry seeing explosive growth through demand for CBDs, the non-psychoactive compound in hemp that many see as a way to better health. (Donald Rex Bishop/Green Heffa Farms, Inc. via AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Hemp is about to become legal nationwide.

A provision of the farm bill that received final approval in Congress on Wednesday removes hemp from the list of federally controlled substances and treats it like a regular crop.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law next week.

Hemp is a type of cannabis that does not get the user high.

The change means an industry already seeing explosive growth is likely to grow more.

Most of that growth will be due to demand for CBD, a non-psychoactive compound found in hemp that many believe has health benefits.

Estimates show the federal legalization could triple the overall hemp market to $2.5 billion by 2022, with $1.3 billion of those sales from CBD products.

In this April 23, 2018 file photo, Trevor Eubanks, plant manager for Big Top Farms, readies a field for another hemp crop near Sisters, Ore. Hemp is about to get the federal legalization that marijuana, its cannabis cousin, craves. That unshackling at the national level sets the stage for greater expansion in an industry seeing explosive growth through demand for CBDs, the non-psychoactive compound in hemp that many see as a way to better health. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

In this April 23, 2018 file photo, a sign designates the type of crop grown in a field as it stands ready to plant another hemp crop for Big Top Farms near Sisters, Ore. Hemp is about to get the federal legalization that marijuana, its cannabis cousin, craves. That unshackling at the national level sets the stage for greater expansion in an industry seeing explosive growth through demand for CBDs, the non-psychoactive compound in hemp that many see as a way to better health. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

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