Hemp, a cousin of marijuana, has a long and honorable career as an agricultural crop in the United States. U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hope to restore it to its former glory. The move makes sense.

Wyden is co-sponsoring a bill with McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that will, if approved, change federal law to legalize the growth of hemp as an agricultural product in the United States.

Hemp has been grown in the United States since the first permanent colony was established in Virginia in 1607, according to Forbes magazine. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper, and by the 19th century, hemp could be found in cloth, paper and rope. By the early 20th century, it was an inexpensive raw material for plastics.

But as the nation’s fear of marijuana grew from the mid-1930s through much of the 20th century, the restrictions on agricultural hemp grew, too. Thus, the last commercial crop of hemp was grown in Wisconsin in 1958, and by 1970, growing it was banned by the Controlled Substances Act.

That was too bad.

Hemp is not marijuana, although the two plants are related. Industrial hemp contains almost no THC, the chemical that gives marijuana users a high. In fact, it would be difficult if not impossible to extract enough THC from hemp to use it as one would use marijuana.

Its value lies elsewhere. It can be found in cosmetics, in clothing and paper. It’s fast-growing and adaptable, needs no herbicides and few if any pesticides. It’s good for the soil in which it is grown.

McConnell’s and Wyden’s interest in industrial hemp is based on those facts. Hemp was once a thriving crop in McConnell’s home state; Wyden recognizes the push to expand its cultivation here.

McConnell’s effort to free hemp from the restrictions the federal government places on marijuana makes sense. It is not marijuana, and it cannot be used as marijuana is used. Even the men and women who most loudly decry the legalization of marijuana should be able to see the difference, and the McConnell-Wyden bill should be approved.