Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity.

Industrial hemp is an agricultural commodity that is cultivated for use in the production of a wide range of products, including foods and beverages, cosmetics and personal care products, nutritional supplements, fabrics and textiles, yarns and spun fibers, paper, construction and insulation materials, and other manufactured goods. Hemp can be grown as a fiber, seed, or other dual-purpose crop. However, hemp is also from the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa, as marijuana. As a result, production in the United States is restricted due to hemp's association with marijuana, and the U.S. market is largely dependent on imports, both as finished hemp-containing products and as ingredients for use in further processing (mostly from Canada and China). Current industry estimates report U.S. hemp sales at nearly $600 million annually. In the early 1990s there was a sustained resurgence of interest to allow for commercial hemp cultivation in the United States. Several states conducted economic or market studies and initiated or enacted legislation to expand state-level resources and production. Congress made significant changes to federal policies regarding hemp in the 2014 farm bill (Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79, §7606). The 2014 farm bill provided that certain research institutions and state departments of agriculture may grow hemp under an agricultural pilot program. The bill further established a statutory definition for industrial hemp as "the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis." Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol is the dominant psychotrophic ingredient in Cannabis sativa. In subsequent omnibus appropriations, Congress has blocked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and federal law enforcement authorities from interfering with state agencies, hemp growers, and agricultural research. Appropriators have also blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from prohibiting the transportation, processing, sale, or use of industrial hemp that is grown or cultivated in accordance with the 2014 farm bill provision. Despite these efforts, industrial hemp continues to be subject to U.S. drug laws, and growing industrial hemp is restricted. Under current U.S. drug policy, all cannabis varieties--including industrial hemp--are considered Schedule I controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA, 21 U.S.C. §§801 et seq.), and DEA continues to control and regulate hemp production. Strictly speaking, the CSA does not make growing hemp illegal; rather, it places strict controls on its production and enforces standards governing the security conditions under which the crop must be grown, making it illegal to grow without a DEA permit. In other words, a grower needs to get permission from DEA to grow hemp or faces the possibility of federal charges or property confiscation. Further guidance from DEA, USDA, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued in August 2016, provides additional clarification regarding federal authorities' position on industrial hemp and its future policies and enforcement actions regarding its cultivation and marketing. Although many in the U.S. hemp industry were encouraged by parts of the 2016 guidance, they have expressed concerns about other aspects of the statement. Congress has continued to introduce legislation to further advance industrial hemp and could further address these concerns in the next farm bill. Legislation introduced in the House, as part of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act--first introduced in the 109th Congress--would amend the CSA to specify that the term marijuana does not include industrial hemp. A Senate companion bill was introduced in the 114th Congress. In addition, in the 114th Congress, bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate that would amend the CSA "to exclude cannabidiol and cannabidiol-rich plants from the definition of marihuana" intended to promote the possible medical applications of industrial hemp. These bills may be reintroduced in the 115th Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]