A hemp bill in Kentucky that would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp if the federal government was to lift its federal ban on the controversial product, passed in the state Senate on Thursday and is on its way to the House.

Senator Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, a tobacco farmer and the hemp bill's lead sponsor, believes the legislation would put Kentucky on the cutting edge of hemp production is if the federal government was to "legalize it."

"Give us the opportunity," Hornback said to the AP. "Put us in a position in Kentucky to give us an opportunity to see how this works. I don't think anybody knows exactly what the economic impact's going to be in Kentucky. We don't know what the economic viability is going to be."

But Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear expressed doubts about legalizing marijuana's low-potency practical cousin, industrial hemp.

"We really don't know anything about whether there's going to be a market for it yet," Beshear said to USA Today. "The other concern is law enforcement...we've got a big drug problem in Kentucky, and I just want to make sure we don't do anything that will make that problem any worse."

Kentucky State Police have also voiced their opposition over the bill, saying it would make it harder to catch marijuana growers.  

Industrial hemp growers under the Kentucky bill could only grow hemp containing up to 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC---the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that gives the drug its narcotic properties.

Marijuana contains 3% to 15% THC.

And although countries Canada, China and France currently grow bails of industrial hemp for uses ranging from rope to soap, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, believes there is not enough clear demand to justify the bill.

"It's not that we're saying 'no,'" Stumbo said. "We're simply saying that the evidence doesn't show that there's enough of a market to override the concerns that the law enforcement community has."

He feels the bill will have "a little tougher time" passing in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Industrial hemp was grown in the United States federal government passed the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act and began restricting its production.

According to research conducted at Oregon State University, most industrial hemp was grown in Kentucky from the end of the Civil War until 1912.

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer is happy to see the industrial hemp bill potentially bring the production of the product back to Kentucky.

"I am extremely proud of the Kentucky state Senate for its commitment to job creation in Kentucky," Comer told Louisville paper, the Courier-Journal. He added, "today's bipartisan vote is the first step toward more opportunities for our farmers and jobs for Kentuckians."