Hemp plants can be made into anything from rope and insulation to granola. But today, most U.S. hemp farmers are growing hemp to produce cannabinoids, such as CBD — which means they’re growing plants that look like marijuana, smell like marijuana and, increasingly, are rolled into joints and smoked like marijuana.

People smoke marijuana to feel high, but they smoke hemp — a non-psychoactive form of cannabis — to ingest cannabinoids users say ease aches, pains and stress.

Now some state lawmakers, alarmed by how difficult it is for law enforcement officers to tell the difference between hemp bud or joints and illegal pot products, are cracking down on smokable hemp.

Louisiana and Indiana banned smokable hemp sales in 2019, and Texas banned smokable hemp manufacturing. Kentucky banned sales of hemp cigarettes, cigars, whole hemp buds and ground flowers in 2018. And a battle over whether to allow sales of dried hemp flower, pre-rolled hemp joints, hemp cigarettes and other smokable products has stalled a North Carolina bill that would regulate hemp production and sales in the state.

“My philosophy right now is, we are actually legalizing recreational marijuana if we don’t listen to our law enforcement and do something about this,” said North Carolina state Rep. Pat McElraft, a Republican and deputy House majority whip. [Read More @ The Philadelphia Inquirer]