FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Hemp could replace tobacco as Kentucky's top cash crop and improve the state's economy, said legislators who are proposing that it be made legal.
Hemp is the same plant as marijuana, but is grown so that it does not contain enough of the drug THC to be intoxicating.
Rep. Richard Henderson, a Jeffersonville Democrat, is sponsoring the bill.
Sen. Joey Pendleton, a Hopkinsville Democrat who also backs it, said Congress will have to change federal law to allow its enactment.
Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer said growing industrial hemp would allow expansion of Kentucky farm markets and create jobs in rural communities.
Hemp seed can be used for fuel, and its fiber can be used for making paper, clothes and other products.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
