The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Agriculture passed a bill Thursday to allow the state to give permits to farmers to grow industrial hemp.

According to Rep. Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point, farmers currently must receive permits from the federal government to grow hemp. The government agencies are not giving out the permits as often as they should, so the bill would be a way for farmers to get permits without going through as much bureaucracy.

Molepske added farmers would still have to go through background and property checks before receiving a permit.

“Farmers should have the ability to grow crops that help their bottom line,” Molepske said. “They have the right to diversify.”

Molepske said hemp can be used in a lot of products such as fiber and oil, but since it has gotten “roped into” the drug debate many people have become uneasy about allowing people to grow it.

The bill stipulates industrial hemp can contain no more than 0.3 percent of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Most marijuana usually contains around 3 percent of THC.

Casey Langan, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau said they have no official stance on the growing of industrial hemp; however the subject is an important one.

“This issue has been around for a long time,” Langan said. “For legislation like this there would be a lot of steps to take because of law enforcement concerns.”

According to Molepske, the United States is one of the only industrialized countries to not actively allow industrial hemp growth. Hemp is a relatively easy crop for farmers to grow because it does not take a lot of inputs like water and fertilizers.

Allowing state farmers to grow hemp is an economically smart decision, Molepske said in a statement.

Molepske added Wisconsin used to be one of the leading producers in the country of industrial hemp during the early 20th century. He said he sees this bill as a way for farmers to return to growing a profitable crop and hopes people can look past hemp’s association with marijuana.

“Farmers can make up their own minds about what they should grow,” Molepske said. “This bill is about industrial hemp, not marijuana.”