WINCHESTER, Ky. - Tucked away off a narrow country road in Clark County, in the middle of a farm, 27 acres of hemp grew all summer. Now, the plants will be harvested and processed.

Kentucky, hailed as a leader by industrial hemp advocates, has grown the hemp. Now the state is working on growing the industry.

"In two years, we've come a long way," said Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who is now running for Congress. "We've proven first of all that it's not a drug, which was very important for the opposition to realize. And we've proven it's economically viable, or there wouldn't be 22 companies that have made an investment in the state. ... What we're doing now is working with the companies that want to go to the next step to commercialize the product. "

Illinois isn’t the first state in the Midwest to allow medical marijuana. Minnesota and Michigan have active cannabis programs for patients, while other nearby states are considering legislation. Some states allow children with seizures to be treated with cannabidiol oil, or CBD, a marijuana extract.

Here’s a look at where Illinois’ neighbor states stand:

- Wisconsin: Allows possession of non-psychoactive CBD oil to treat seizure disorder. Legislation to allow adults to use marijuana for recreational or medical reasons has been introduced, but it is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Legislature.

LEXINGTON, Ky. • For more than 100 years, Jane Harrod’s family set aside a corner of their farm to grow tobacco. The 20 acres they grew when she was a girl was only a fraction of the 400 acres the family owned outside of town but it promised good money — about $1,000 an acre.

“Most all of us farmers raised some tobacco,” said Harrod, 63, of Lexington, Ky. “Tobacco definitely put the clothes on our backs when we were kids.”

But tobacco isn’t the reliable cash crop it once was. That has Harrod and hundreds of other farmers across the South revisiting a plant from deep in the region’s past: industrial hemp.

The Shell Farms & Greenhouses is an expansive 1,000-acre property in Garrard County, 37 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky. The five-generation family farm is operated by 31-year-old Giles Shell and his 60-year-old father, Gary. The two are whizzes at making ornamental flowers flourish, and like most farmers in the area, the family has grown tobacco for years.

In late June, the younger Shell stood outside one of six greenhouses on the farm and held up a yellowed tobacco plant with limp rootstock. The Shells know how to save sickly tobacco plants like this one, but they don’t want to anymore. “I’m hoping it’s our last crop,” Shell said.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

Hemp has come a long way, increasing from 33 acres in 2014 — the first legal crop in Kentucky — to more than 922 acres planted this year.

"Welcome to Kentucky, the leading industrial hemp-producing state in the country. It feels good to say that," Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told a sold-out crowd Monday at the annual Hemp Industries Association Conference in Lexington.

This was the first time in 22 years that the conference of hemp entrepreneurs and activists has been held in a hemp-producing state, said Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association.

According to The Courier Journal, Louisville local Will Russell was arrested at the Executive Strike & Spare bowling alley for possession of marijuana.

In what could be the plot of a Coen Brothers movie, the founder of Lebowski Fest, an annual party to celebrate the 1998 stoner-bowling movie, was arrested on Saturday… at Lebowski Fest. As the 14th yearly gathering of Dudes and Jesuses and Walters screaming about the rules commenced, the founder of the fest was arrested in the most Lebowski way ever.

More than 100 acres of industrial hemp will emerge during the next week after being planted Friday and Tuesday near Pembroke and Crofton. Kendall Clark and farm employee Landon Hopper used a Kubota tractor and a modified Kinze planter Tuesday to plant 95 acres of industrial hemp at Clark's Oak Lane farm. Clark says he decided to start out a little bigger than some farmers.

   
Clark says planting went well, but there were a few challenges he had to overcome to use a traditional planter.

Industrial hemp advocate Katie Moyer says it is exciting to see more than 100 acres of industrial planted in Christian County.

Hemp Historian Arinon Compass of Florida says Kentucky is at a critical stage in the reintroduction of industrial hemp in the United States.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in April 2015, there have been more than 1500 reports of human exposure to synthetic marijuana across the United States. To compare, in April 2014, there were 250.

A Lexington ER Physician says Central Kentucky is also seeing that increase.

“In 2015 we’ve actually seen the numbers spike once again, a new formulation that has popped up again,” Lexington ER Doctor Ryan Stanton said.

“You can’t even compare it to marijuana. It’s totally different. Totally different,” a former synthetic marijuana user told WKYT Wednesday evening.

The latest hemp update from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture came at a tobacco warehouse where a packed house included former and current tobacco growers. But the irony was lost on no one.

Among those reporting was Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who told those gathered at the G.F. Vaughan Tobacco Warehouse #23 in Lexington, “We want to make Kentucky synonymous with hemp like Idaho with potatoes.”

Speaker after speaker sang the praises of the crop that is entering season two of research production, including Derek Vaughan, CEO of Vaughan Tobacco.