OLYMPIA — A bill that would create a path for the farming, production and sale of industrial hemp in Washington was cleared by the Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development Committee on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 5012, sponsored by Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, will now wait for consideration from the full Senate.

“I’m pleased that this common sense bill has moved out of committee so swiftly. It doesn’t add up that recreational marijuana is legal, while hemp is not,” Hatfield said.

Hemp is used to make a variety of different products, including food, clothing, beauty products, building materials and biofuels. Like marijuana, hemp comes from the cannabis plant but has negligible THC content.

Five other states have already passed similar measures. The U.S. is currently the world’s top importer of hemp fiber while Canada and China are the top exporters.