The U.S. government, in all its wisdom, treats hemp and marijuana in the same manner. Despite one offering no psychoactive effects (hemp) and the other offering psychoactive effects (marijuana), both are against the law. While Colorado and Washington recently legalized recreational marijuana (including some aspects of industrial hemp) and several states have passed laws to allow the growing of hemp, the federal government has stood firm on the ban for decades, and continues to do so. The time has passed for the feds to come off their high horse and get a dose of reality; it’s time to legalize industrial hemp.
Currently, the United States is the number one importer of hemp products in the world. We have to import it because we can’t grow and produce it here. So, we spend millions.