The promised move was applauded by hemp supporters in Pennsylvania.

“If this is true, this is the greatest moment in recent hemp history,” said attorney Andrew Sacks, the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Medical Marijuana and Hemp Law Committee. “This will create millions of new jobs and bring hemp CBDs to the masses. Soon you will able to buy hemp CBDs at CVS pharmacies instead of opioids.”

CBDs, or cannabidiols, are molecular compounds in hemp products that are believed to have pain-relieving effects.

Growing hemp without a federal permit has long been banned due to its classification as a controlled substance related to marijuana. Hemp and marijuana are the same species, but hemp has a negligible amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Hemp got a limited reprieve with the 2014 federal Farm Bill, which allows state agriculture departments to designate hemp projects for research and development. So far, 34 states have authorized hemp research, while actual production occurred in 19 states last year, said Eric Steenstra, president of the advocacy group Vote Hemp. Hemp production totaled 25,541 acres in 2017, more than double the 2016 output, he said.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Agriculture in February approved 39 research projects that will allow cultivation of about 1,000 acres of marijuana’s non-psychoactive cousin. Last year, 14 growers produced a total of 36 acres of hemp statewide.

Gov. Wolf  supports the legalization of hemp. Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding this month sent letters of support to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation noting that industrial hemp has many properties that, if legitimized, could provide additional markets and opportunities for farmers.. “Ultimately, the designation of industrial hemp as a controlled substance is a barrier to the farmers who wish to see this crop find an appropriate home in the marketplace,” said Redding’s spokesman, Casey Smith.

The crop, which once thrived in Kentucky, was historically used for rope but has many other uses, including clothing and mulch from the fiber, hemp milk and cooking oil from the seeds, and soap and lotions. Other uses include building materials, animal bedding and biofuels.

Hemp advocates fighting for years to restore the crop’s legitimacy hailed McConnell’s decision to put his political influence behind the effort to make it a legal crop again.

“This is a huge development for the hemp industry,” Steenstra said. “Sen. McConnell’s support is critical to helping us move hemp from research and pilot programs to full commercial production.”

Brian Furnish, an eighth-generation tobacco farmer in Kentucky, has started making the switch to hemp production. His family will grow about 300 acres of hemp this year in Harrison County. He’s also part owner of a company that turns hemp into food, fiber and dietary supplements.

Furnish said hemp has the potential to rival or surpass what tobacco production once meant to Kentucky.

“All we’ve got to do is the government get out of the way and let us grow,” he told reporters.

McConnell acknowledged there was “some queasiness” about hemp in 2014 when federal lawmakers cleared the way for states to regulate it for research and pilot programs. There’s much broader understanding now that hemp is a “totally different” plant than its illicit cousin, he said.

“I think we’ve worked our way through the education process of making sure everybody understands this is really a different plant,” the Republican leader said.

McConnell said he plans to have those discussions with Attorney General Jeff Sessions to emphasize the differences between the plants. The Trump administration has taken a tougher stance on marijuana.