Good article. In Iowa, hemp used to be a valuable crop. When they got around to making it illegal there was quite a bit of it growing wild in the ditches, hence the name "ditch-weed" in this state as Im sure it was called in other states. You used to see it growing along fence rows etc.. It is not a prevalent as it used to be.
There used to be a plant in the area that processed it, i'm guessing mostly for rope. That plant was eventually turned into a Maytag plant.