The bill, described by Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, as “mostly status quo,” does make some changes. At the insistence of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, it legalizes industrial hemp as a crop, giving farmers hurting from the loss of tobacco a boost. Mr. McConnell has championed industrial hemp for his once tobacco-dependent state. The measure is expected to open up the usage of hemp for construction products and plastic composites, and should help vendors of cannabidiol, a cannabis compound that does not cause a high.
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