There was a buzz last Saturday when I attended the Hemp, Health and Innovation Symposium in Sydney. 

The prospects for hemp and medical cannabis are looking up, with the stigma associated with cannabis waning. 

Even conservative governments are recognising that medical cannabis can help alleviate symptoms, such as epilepsy in young children, as well as alleviate chronic pain. 

The Greens launched our Hemp is Healthy campaign, aimed at making it legal for farmers to sell hemp seed for food products and therefore making it a viable crop. 

Under current laws, only hemp fibre can be sold, not the seed, as Australia and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world where it is illegal to consume hemp seed as a food product.

Changing this law would allow Australian farmers to tap into a billion-dollar global hemp food market and kick start the hemp fibre industry as well.

Hemp is biologically different to marijuana, with very low amounts of THC, the psychoactive molecule. You could smoke or eat many kilograms of hemp and you would never get high.

Hemp is healthy and is considered a superfood, desired by athletes. It is rich in omega 3 and protein. 

Many health food stores and pharmacies sell imported hemp seeds, although they must attach a silly label noting it is illegal to consume orally in Australia – which people promptly ignore.

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) have twice recommended food derived from hemp be made legal. 

In 2012, they concluded that “there is no evidence of adverse health effects in humans at low levels of THC exposure”. 

However, federal and state ministers rejected this expert advice and asked for a further review. 

FSANZ reviewed and reaffirmed its advice that hemp-derived foods were safe in 2015, but once again the politicians baulked.

The stumbling block is Police Minister Troy Grant, who is arguing that eating hemp may cause false positives on roadside drug tests.

The levels of THC are so low that this is unlikely to be a serious issue, and police in Europe and America manage to deal with this issue.

If the law is changed, major cereal, health food and confectionary brands could legally purchase hemp seed to bolster the nutritional value of their products. 

This would be a massive boost for Australian farmers. 

Hemp is a salt-tolerant crop, which requires minimal water and is ideally suited to Australian growing conditions. 

It is also a good option for farmers to grow in their crop rotation to break disease and pest cycles.

The Greens are running a Hemp is Healthy campaign that aims to educate the public and lawmakers so that we can fully utilise one of the most useful plants on the planet.

Political cowardice should not hold back a new billion-dollar industry and more regional jobs.