The new spending bill that made its way through Congress last week contains language that forbids the federal government from getting in the way of industrial hemp pilot projects being conducted in three states, including Kentucky.
Several universities in Kentucky harvested hemp crops this year, but it came after a standoff between Kentucky and the Justice Department involving a shipment of hemp seeds from overseas.
The Courier-Journal reports Rep. Thomas Massie put the hemp-specific language in an amendment attached to the spending bill. The commonwealth is currently accepting applications for farmers who want to plant a hemp crop in 2015. Hemp had been banned in the country for decades.
