President Donald Trumpsigned the 2018 farm bill into law Thursday, which will officially make industrial hemp legal across all 50 states. Previously hemp had been considered a Schedule I substance alongside more potent strains of marijuana, as well as other drugs like heroin, LSD and some deadly synthetic opioids. While other strains of cannabis with higher concentrations of THC, the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana, can get people high, hemp does not. Under the new bill, hemp is defined as any part of a marijuana plant with a THC concentration of 0.3 percent or less. Drug policy reformers and hemp industry groups had also hoped that the final bill would be passed without a statute permanently prohibiting individuals with prior felony drug charges from working on hemp operations.

Source: Huffington Post December 20, 2018 23:37 UTC