Biobased beer can rings, algae and bugs, chitin-based plastic breakthrough, gribble gut enzymes, banana-based products: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of December 14th

#10 Hemp cultivation inches closer to legality

In the United States, hemp cultivation has moved a step closer to being legalized. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) introduced a provision that legalizing hemp cultivation be formally incorporated into the 2018 Farm Bill.
While some states have allowed small-scale cultivation for experimental programs, legalized cultivation would enable farmers to tap into the booming market for CBD in foods, beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
“For the first time in nearly a hundred years, commercial hemp production will no longer be federally prohibited in the United States,” says Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. “This represents a significant and long overdue shift in US policy.”
More on the story, here.