OLYMPIA- The Associated Press reports that the Washington legislature, in a rare Saturday session, has approved a new law establishing the difference between commercially-grown industrial hemp and medicinally-used marijuana.

The difference will hinge on the amount of delta-9 THC and THC-A contained in the plant. If the combined amounts of both chemicals do not exceed 0.3% of total content, the plant will be legally defined as hemp. Any amount over that figure would identify the substance as marijuana.

Ryan Loflin plans to make history, becoming the nation's first commercial-scale hemp grower in almost 60 years. In a few days, he will plant his hemp crop on a farm in the far southeastern corner of Colorado. Loflin and a handful of other growers are set to capitalize on hemp's new legal status in Colorado.

Plenty of financial, operational and legal challenges lie ahead. But cultivating the marijuana look-alike is no novelty pursuit for Loflin, who owns a company called Colorado Hemp. He sees it as a commodity that one day could help reverse the sagging fortunes of rural Colorado.

A Colorado Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill authorizing the industrial cultivation of hemp.

Hemp is a marijuana lookalike but with little or no THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot that makes users high.

Advocates say hemp is poised to become a big industry in Colorado. The passage of Amendment 64 in November allows its legal cultivation pending legislative authorization.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky would be able to quickly license hemp growers if the federal government ever lifts a ban on the crop under a measure approved by the state Legislature on Tuesday.

"We have, in my opinion, put together a strong bill," said House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Catlettsburg. "We will be on the cutting edge and be ready to hit the ground running."

Washington, DC: United States Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and 28 co-sponsors, including House Agriculture Committee ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), have reintroduced legislation in Congress that requires the federal government to respect state laws allowing for the cultivation of industrial hemp. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa that contains only trace (less than one percent) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.