The number of US acres devoted to hemp is 100 times greater than five years ago
The US defines industrial hemp as cannabis sativa plants containing 0.3% or less THC. Any higher than that, so to speak, and the plants are considered marijuana, which is federally outlawed. Before 2015, hemp was virtually nonexistent in terms of US agriculture, because the Controlled Substances Act lumped it along with all cannabis plants (also known as marijuana) in 1970 as a Schedule I substance with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”