People may do a double take when they look inside a greenhouse on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, but what they're looking at is not marijuana. It's hemp, and yes, there is a difference.
There are only trace amounts of THC -- the substance that makes people high -- in hemp. It will not get a person stoned.
So, why are they legally growing hemp on campus? Yes, legally. The university has been licensed by the state. It also has approval from the Board of Regents and the Governor.
Some very respected professors and students have been doing some cutting-edge research -- including cloning hemp and other plants -- in search of new medical treatments and drugs for humans.
This is not a story about medical marijuana. This story looks at another form of cannabis -- which is already legal in Tennessee -- hemp.
We already use it for rope. We make clothes out of its fiber. The seeds are incredibly nutritious, and now there are some amazing potential breakthroughs for medicine.
Who knows? Hemp could become Tennessee's next big cash crop.
