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While McConnell’s proposal, which is included in the 2018 Farm Bill, could pass at any point, companies are already jockeying to take advantage.

The sheer scale of CBD’s potential was more than evident at a recent marijuana conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, where hundreds of booths sold everything from CBD capsules geared specifically for combating anxiety, to CBD-derived anti-aging treatment dispensed using a syringe, to CBD-derived coconut water.

“CBD is for everyone, and anyone,” said David Rendimonti, CEO of LiveWell Canada, a cannabis and hemp company that sells wellness products. “The reason why CBD is an extremely fast-growing industry especially in the U.S., is because people are into self-directed care. And these same people don’t want the high that THC provides that you’ll get from cannabis.”

Unlike THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis, CBD does not get you “stoned,” though same say it can induce a “body-high” or feeling of calm that can reduce anxiety.

The objective of the Farm Bill is to treat hemp as any other kind of agricultural commodity, so you’re going to be dealing with far fewer regulatory oversights John Kagia, chief knowledge officer at New Frontier Data

Hemp, and by default hemp-derived CBD, have straddled a legal grey area for years now. Industrial hemp, used for commercial items such as textiles, rope, and biodegradable plastics, is grown legally in 19 states, primarily Colorado, Oregon and Kentucky. But in a state like California, industrial hemp can only be cultivated by registered growers and certain specific agricultural research institutions.

Data from cannabis research company New Frontier Data suggests that, already, CBD is by far the prime driver of hemp cultivation: their recent study shows 70 per cent of all hemp cultivation in 2017 was for CBD, versus 20 per cent for hemp seeds, and only 10 per cent for hemp fibre or industrial hemp.