State in India legalizes hemp cultivation

In yet another sign that cannabis-related business opportunities are cropping up across the world, the state of Uttarakhand in northern India has announced that it will allow local farmers to begin growing hemp.

The caveat: they can only sell it to the government for industrial purposes. The farmers also must regulate their hemp so the THC content is only between 0.3% and 1.5%, according to the International Business Times.

That sets the legal hemp apart from its relative, Indian Hemp, which grows in the wild in India and often checks in at between 4%-5% THC.

The cultivation of industrial hemp is legal in many parts of the world but is still banned in most of the United States, though it is legal to own and sell hemp-based products and more states are loosening laws on growing.

The countries that dominate the hemp market currently are China, Germany and France, the Times reported. But apparently at least part of India wants to begin competing for a share of that pie.