... the major reason they are by no means the same plants is for all practical purposes they can not be used for the same purpose. If your plant contains above the levels set for industrial hemp grows then you have an illegal grow on your hands and it must be destroyed. No one takes medicinal cannabis plants as in "marijuana" cuts away the buds and then makes rope out of it- at least not on an industrial or commercial scale. Theoretically it might be possible but it is not practical. If you talk to someone in either end of the industry and they will tell you hemp is not marijuana..
as taken directly from wikipedia's "hemp" article....
"Hemp (from Old English hænep) is a commonly used term for high-growing varieties of the Cannabis plant and its products, which include fiber, oil, and seed. Hemp is refined into products such as hemp seed foods, hemp oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, pulp, paper, and fuel.
Other variants of the herb Cannabis are widely used as a drug, commonly known as marijuana. These variants are typically low-growing and have higher content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. The legality of Cannabis varies widely from country to country, and from state to state in the United States. In many countries regulatory limits for concentrations of psychoactive drug compounds, particularly THC, in hemp require the use of strains of the plant which are bred for low content."
