Pueblo County is the first Colorado county to adopt regulations for growing industrial hemp, which comes from the same plant as marijuana, reports the Pueblo Chieftain.
Hemp can be used create items like clothing, paper and rope. It does not have high THC, the chemical present in marijuana that gets users high.
The new regulations do require most male hemp plants to be grown five miles from existing marijuana grows because there is a potential that male hemp plants could pollinate female marijuana plants.
It's not clear if the hemp grows will also keep a 1,000 foot buffer from schools, in order to avoid enhanced federal sentences for marijuana possession:
“I think it’s silly to think that a hemp manufacturing facility would pose a danger to a school, but until we know what the feds are going to do, it’s better not to kick that hornets’ nest,” said Commissioner Sal Pace.
