Will 2018 be the year hemp makes cash crop comeback in Pennsylvania?

American consumers are no stranger to hemp, though we won’t fault you for not realizing it.

A 2015 report by the Congressional Research Service found that it was used in 25,000 products — from drinks, food and nutritional supplements to paper and textile products.

With so many applications it’s no surprise that America is the world’s top importer of hemp, which is a $600 million industry.

“But wait,” you’re saying. “Didn’t the federal government outlaw hemp in 1937, because of its similarity to marijuana?”

Yes it did — and we encourage you to take a moment and reflect upon the ridiculous state of affairs the federal ban has created.

Hemp is currently a Schedule I narcotic in the federal government’s eyes, which puts it in the same category as drugs like heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.

So the plant is too dangerous for American farmers to grow, or American consumers to have direct access to.

However, it is safe enough to be included in tens of thousands of products consumed by Americans every day, and to be imported on an absolutely massive scale — including from our neighbor to the north, Canada, which legalized hemp in 1998 and now reportedly cultivates more than 100,000 acres annually.

That started to change in 2014, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky tucked a provision into the federal farm bill allowing hemp farming under certain conditions — namely that a state had to approve cultivation, and that any hemp grown had to be only for “research purposes.”

To say the idea was a hit is an understatement. So far 38 states — including Pennsylvania, which green-lit its own research pilot program in 2016 — have given approval.

State regulators here have already granted 39 industrial hemp research permits this year, setting Pennsylvania farmers up to cultivate about 1,000 acres this year. That’s up from just 36 acres in 2017.

This week the potential of a breakout year for hemp took another leap forward, when McConnell announced on Monday that he will introduce a bill to remove it from the government’s list of controlled substances and legalize it as an “agricultural commodity.”

It’s about time.

The federal classification of hemp as a narcotic is not only downright stupid, it is a monstrous barrier to those interested in getting into the industry.

Farmers, subject to strict oversight from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, struggle to find financing and are forced to import seeds from growers in Europe to start their crops.

American Hemp buyers and processers? They’re few and far between. Most investors, understandably, shy away from sinking money into manufacturing facilities for a plant federal regulators classify as a controlled substance.

What is the hemp industry’s potential in Pennsylvania? We won’t really know until federal drug laws are revised and American farmers, buyers, processors and companies are empowered to go after a slice of that $600 million industry.