The listing as a schedule 1 substance includes drugs not considered to have a Legitimate Medical Use. This precludes Academic and Commercial Research into its properties that may well prove to have Medical Value.
The level of criminalization shows hypocrisy when compared with tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals.
The value of Hemp as a Green Industrial Crop are evident; fast growth, high yield, low maintenance, sustainablity, and as a petro-chemical substitute, i.e. fuel & plastics.
Two Industrial Hemp bills have been introduced in the 113th Congress, H.R. 525, the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013," was introduced in the U.S. House, S. 359, was introduced in the U.S. Senate. The bills define Industrial Hemp, and gives States the exclusive authority to regulate Industrial Hemp.