Nevada became the latest state to defy the federal government's apparent "War on Nature" by legalizing commercial industrial hemp production on Friday.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 396 into law, authorizing the cultivation of industrial hemp for commercial purposes and the production of agricultural hemp seed in Nevada. The bill was created by a group of 12 bipartisan senators, and was initially introduced in March. After receiving unanimous approval in the Senate, it went on to pass the full assembly by a vote of 34 to 5.

While state law previously allowed institutions of higher education or the Nevada Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp for approved research purposes, the new law will open licensing programs to growers, handlers, and producers of hemp seed.

Because industrial hemp is the product of a variety of the cannabis plant, it is treated as a drug in the United States. However, it is important to note that hemp is non-psychoactive, and has the potential to be used in more than 25,000 products, including fibers, textiles, paper and construction and insulation materials.