The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Canadian weed companies are poised to enter the United States market following the passage of hemp-reform legislation by Congress this week. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that the Farm Bill, which made it through the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and the House of Representatives on Wednesday, removes hemp extracts such as cannabidiol (CBD) from the Controlled Substances Act. This means that CBD -- the non-intoxicating cannabinoid sometimes associated with therapeutic benefits -- will no longer be illegal at a federal level in the U.S. The last step is a presidential signature. The change is a boon for Canada's cannabis companies, eager to stake a claim on any part of the U.S. market. Over the past several years, the popularity of CBD has exploded south of the border, appearing in drinks, nutritional supplements, even cosmetics. U.S. hemp-derived CBD sales grew from $129-million (U.S.) in 2016 to $190-million (U.S.) in 2017 and could reach $450-million (U.S.) by 2020. Canopy Growth has been experimenting with field-scale hemp-derived CBD production in Saskatchewan. In October, it paid more than $400-million to acquire Colorado-based hemp research company ebbu.