Hemp

Illinois lawmakers last week joined representatives of the licensed cannabis industry to call for a ban on intoxicating hemp products including delta-8 THC. Under one proposal, non-intoxicating hemp products would be regulated with rules for licensing hemp businesses and the testing and labeling of hemp products. Synthetically produced hemp products such as delta-8 THC, however, would be banned by the legislation. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp agriculture and hemp products, ending the prohibition of the crop that had been… Read more.

The government of the United Kingdom has approved changes to the rules governing industrial hemp licenses designed to make it easier for farmers to grow the crop. The new regulations will support regulated farmers who grow hemp and encourage new investment in the industry while continuing to discourage illegal drug uses of the plant, government officials said this week. In the U.K., industrial hemp (cannabis with less than 0.2% THC) can be legally grown outdoors by licensed farmers for the production of… Read more.

The Iowa state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to cap the THC potency of consumable hemp products, sending the measure to the desk of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds for consideration. The legislation, House File 2605, was passed by the Senate by a vote of 31-18 after receiving approval from the Iowa House of Representatives last month. If signed into law by the governor, the measure would amend the Iowa Hemp Act to cap the THC potency of hemp products at 4 milligrams per… Read more.

Thanks to the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, hemp-based products are at least quasi-legal across the United States – and, unlike marijuana, they’re shippable across state lines. Companies big and small are betting on hemp-derived drinks becoming the next big thing for health-conscious, smoke-wary consumers. Bernuth’s Pharos Brands was one of 30 hemp-derived THC beverage companies at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s January expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. According to the Hemp Beverage Alliance, hemp drink companies… Read more.

Farmers in Zimbabwe are pivoting from the country’s traditional staple crops like corn to a new lucrative crop—hemp production. Leaders in the country, however, are more worried about any disruptions to food security locally than the potential economic boon hemp will likely bring to the country. Agriculture contributes about 18% to Zimbabwe’s total gross domestic product (GDP), and maize or corn is the country’s staple crop and accounts for a substantial proportion of the lion’s share of fertilizers that are… Read more.

A recent property tax relief bill in Nebraska is seeking to create new income opportunities for the state, including a variety of sales tax exemptions. This includes adding sales taxes for products like candy and soda, as well as services such as pet care and grooming, but most importantly, adding a 100% tax to CBD and hemp products. Legislative Bill 388 was recently passed by the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee on March 21 in a seven to 10 vote. The bill was initially… Read more.

Wyoming is the latest state to ban the sale of hemp-derived THC products. Gov. Mark Gordon recently signed into law Senate File 32, which mandates that “no person or licensee shall … add alter, insert or otherwise include any synthetic substance into hemp or hemp products produced, processed or sold in accordance with this chapter.” The new law also calls for state officials to conduct inspections of stores that sell hemp products and to use chemical analyses to test such goods to ensure… Read more.

A bill proposed in Kansas would reduce licensing fees for hemp businesses from $1,200 to $500 which would reduce the barrier to entry for farmers to cultivate the crop, KSNW reports. State Rep. Tory Marie Blew (R), the bill’s co-sponsor in the House, told KSNW that “Lowering the barrier… is really gonna be appeasing to farmers to wanna get started and learn how to grow this crop and hopefully have more acreage in it in years to come.”  State Rep. Webster Roth… Read more.

An Iowa legislative panel this week approved a bill that sets limits on consumable hemp products sold in the state. The measure, House Study Bill 665, was approved on Wednesday by the House Public Safety Subcommittee by a vote of 2-0.  The bill, which was submitted to the state legislature by the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS), gives the state Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to regulate consumable hemp products. Under the measure, HHS can… Read more.

Things are changing fast regarding how hemp is tolerated in agriculture and farming. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s veterinary arm, the FDA-Center for Veterinary Medicine’s (FDA-CVM), is responsible for assuring that animal drugs and medicated feeds are safe and effective. Officials that determine approved chicken feed ingredients recommended hemp seed meal for hens, under a tentative FDA-CVM approval, as evidence mounts showing hemp seed is not only safe but beneficial for healthy hens and eggs. Hemp Feed Coalition (HFC)—a… Read more.

A perceived loophole in Minnesota’s new adult use cannabis law is set to be addressed in a summit later this week, according to a report from news outlet MinnPost. The meeting, convened by the state Office of Cannabis Management and the Department of Health, will bring together law enforcement and local government associations to discuss the unregulated sale of products portrayed as hemp that may contain high THC levels. The ambiguity arises from the law’s description of regulated products, which includes… Read more.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine last week called on state lawmakers to pass legislation to ban hemp products with psychotropic cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC, saying that the intoxicating products pose a risk to children. The legislature reconvenes this month, with lawmakers already planning to consider new legislation to regulate recreational marijuana, which was legalized by the state’s voters in November.  The House of Representatives is expected to return to the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, two weeks earlier than planned. The… Read more.

Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation to begin regulating hemp-derived cannabinoid products last year, banning the selling of them to those under the age of 21. But the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s new rules submitted in December go further and attempt to curb the selling of hemp-derived cannabinoid products like THC-A and CBD flower by changing the rules around what qualifies as THC, the psychoactive ingredient most commonly found in marijuana. Tennessee law prevents any cannabinoid product containing 0.3 percent delta-9 THC… Read more.

Hemp growers and retailers in Tennessee say that newly proposed regulations threaten the viability of businesses in the industry and vow to challenge the rules before they go into effect, according to media reports. In April, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to regulate and tax hemp products grown, manufactured and sold in the state. Under the bill, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture is tasked with drafting rules to govern the industry, including regulations for product testing, compliance and enforcement. Earlier this… Read more.

A hemp-based battery manufacturing company is coming to a town in Wisconsin with a goal to hire former employees of Energizer. Portage, Wisconsin-based Wisconsin Battery Co. (WinBat) makes batteries out of hemp instead of graphene, for use in devices like hearing aids. Earlier this month, WinBat announced that it has acquired 17 acres of land in the Portage Industrial Park to develop its battery plant. According to a Dec. 21 press release, development will focus on: Industrial batteries: Creating energy storage… Read more.

Consumers are driven by price and drawn to new products. As the year edges closer to an end, a look back at the legal cannabis industry shows some new consumer trends alongside a range of responding business adjustments. The Three P’s: Price, Price, Price Wider inflationary pressures, as well as more cannabis-specific economic factors, helped drive the dominance of price sensitivity in consumer decisions. Price compression in mature markets, such as Colorado and Nevada, pushed brands to innovate and diversify… Read more.

You may have heard a thing or two about hemp in the news recently, but what is this “miracle plant” and why isn’t it taking the world by storm? Widespread confusion about the nature and benefits of hemp, as well as people mixing it up with marijuana — another substance derived from the Cannabis sativa plant — have prevented people from embracing hemp on as wide of a scale as they otherwise might. An increase in hemp’s popularity has led… Read more.

A Republican state senator has filed legislation to renew last spring’s failed effort to regulate intoxicating hemp products in Missouri, such as Delta-8 drinks and edibles. Delta-8 THC products can be sold in stores in Missouri because the intoxicating ingredient, THC, is derived from hemp, not marijuana which is a controlled substance. And hemp is federally legal. There’s no state or federal law saying teenagers or children can’t buy them or stores can’t sell them to minors—though some stores and… Read more.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) last week vetoed a bill that would have let the state’s animal feed makers utilize hemp seeds in the production of certain animal feed products, Marijuana Moment reports. Under the bill, commercial makers of animal feed for pets, horses, or camelids would have been allowed to use hemp seed or hemp seed-derived products as ingredients for their products. Supporters of the bill had argued that the seed hulls and seed meal from hemp would be nutritious… Read more.

The South African province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in October granted 664 licenses to cultivate, store, and transport industrial hemp, the South African reports. Under the program, hemp plants can contain up to 0.2% THC. The permits were awarded by the KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) during the Cannabis Expo and Conference held in the province. KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said the expo and conference marked a “new era for the cannabis sector in the province” and noted that the… Read more.

Recent research into the potential uses of hemp shows that cannabinoids produced by the plant could one day be the source of new natural pesticides, according to researchers at Cornell University in New York. The study by scientists at the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell AgriTech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) found that a higher concentration of cannabinoids in the leaves of hemp plants showed less damage from chewing insects compared with leaves less rich in… Read more.

Minnesota’s newly passed adult-use marijuana law might have created a loophole that allows hemp cultivators to sell flower products that are more potent than the 0.3% THC limit. That means hemp growers could gain a foothold in the market more than a year before the state plans to launch adult-use marijuana sales in early 2025, according to Minneapolis-based nonprofit online news outlet MinnPost, citing the podcast Weed Wonks. Chris Tholkes, director of Minnesota’s Office of Medical Cannabis, told Weed Wonks that the department… Read more.

Hemp farmers in several states are being told by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that they can grow cannabis or hemp but not both, according to a report from Politico.  Thousands of farmers from coast to coast saw the 2018 Farm Bill’s legalization of hemp agriculture as a new avenue to profitability for the operations. And as the legalization of marijuana has continued to spread across the country, some hemp farmers are seeing new opportunities in growing weed under cannabis… Read more.

A key legislative subcommittee in Kentucky approved an emergency rule designed to regulate intoxicating hemp-derived products differently than nonintoxicating products. It’s the third time the regulations have been amended, according to news website Kentucky Today, and the emergency rule will remain in effect until April 27, 2024. The most recent amendments added were: Requirements for processing and manufacturing. Implementing U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards to product testing requirements. A registry for retailers. Katelyn Wiard of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said during… Read more.

A group of Alaska hemp growers and manufacturers has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging its new hemp regulations, arguing that they are unconstitutional and contrary to federal law. The new rules, which were approved in October and went into effect last week, are designed to regulate intoxicating hemp products. The lawsuit brought by plaintiffs including the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association and four businesses, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, naming the Alaska Department of Natural… Read more.

Hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC could be legal to sell in Georgia after the state’s Court of Appeals ruled such products aren’t controlled substances. The decision follows a Georgia crackdown on hemp-derived THC products that included a 2022 raid on retailer Elements Distribution, the plaintiff in the case, according to Atlanta TV station WXIA. The Gwinnett County district attorney’s office, which worked with local authorities in the raids, could still appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. After passage… Read more.

For fans of the blunt, nothing else will do. The slow-burning, flavorful nature of flower wrapped in a cigar leaf has been a staple of cannabis culture for decades and has a devoted following all over the country. With the pre-roll segment growing year-over-year at 12% in the U.S. and 38% in Canada, the blunt is a key part of what is the fastest-growing sector of the cannabis marketplace. But in the modern cannabis industry, combining cannabis and tobacco is against regulations… Read more.

When Congress legalized industrial hemp in 2018, it prompted a tidal wave of CBD-based products while also eliminating a front in the war on drugs.  But in Texas, some local law enforcement officials continue to fight the old battle, as a report this week in the Dallas Observer highlights. The story details a recent raid at the store Venom Vapors in Killeen, Texas, where cops, building inspectors and even the local fire marshal showed up one morning earlier this month saying they had received… Read more.

According to a recent report from The Japan News, the region with the most hemp cultivation in Japan is the Tochigi Prefecture, located north of Tokyo. Farmers in the area initially cultivated a variety of hemp called Tochigishiro in 1982, which they still grow today. The number of hemp farmers has dwindled, with 6,000 growers in the Tochigi Prefecture at its peak, down to just 12 today. Many of these remaining growers are in their 60s and 70s. One 44 year old cultivator, Yoshinori… Read more.

When browsing major US media outlets on any given day, you’ll likely find a fresh article about cannabis, if not several. Make no mistake about it: When it comes to legal weed, business is booming. Once relegated to the shadows, today the public’s appreciation and desire for the plant known scientifically as Cannabis sativa has surged to historically high levels. And, as a result, modern consumers are now being bombarded by a whole new lexicon of terms. Understanding how hemp and… Read more.

A Maryland judge denied a temporary restraining order against hemp producers saying that the hemp products were legal according to the 2018 Farm Bill. The Maryland Hemp Coalition filed the case against the state’s 2023 Cannabis Reform Act. The Cannabis Reform Act (CRA) lumped in all cannabis products including those derived from hemp with no regard towards the amount of THC in the product or how it was derived. The 2018 Farm Bill specifically stated that hemp products containing less… Read more.

A judge in Maryland on Thursday imposed a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a state law that prohibited the sale of intoxicating hemp products, the Washington Post reports. The lawsuit against the rules was filed in July by the Maryland Hemp Coalition and several hemp farmers and businesses.   Under the law, only businesses that had medical or adult-use cannabis licenses in the state were permitted to sell intoxicating hemp products and the lawsuit argued that those restrictions violate the Maryland Constitution’s equal protection and anti-monopoly… Read more.

Certain hemp-derived products in Alaska will now be regulated by the state’s marijuana regulatory agency under new rules passed by lawmakers. The change doesn’t affect all hemp products, only derivatives containing intoxicating delta-8 or delta-9 THC as well as some “so-called ‘full-spectrum’ hemp products intended to help with epilepsy and pain,” according to the Anchorage Daily News. Some of those “full-spectrum” products include cannabinoids that are limited by Alaska’s industrial hemp program. Under the new regulations, such products must be approved by… Read more.

The exploding national U.S. hemp market has ballooned to more than $28 billion in revenue this year alone, surpassing the national marijuana market in total value, according to economist Beau Whitney. Driving most of that growth is the “cannabinoid” sector, which is a polite way of categorizing both non-intoxicating CBD products as well as intoxicating goods made with various versions of THC molecules, such as delta-8. That boom has overshadowed hemp’s more traditional industrial uses, and thus the markets themselves for hemp fibers and… Read more.

A team of researchers and scientists have created what can be thought of as diet hemp plants, or plants that have been modified to produce less THC than the minimal amount hemp plants already do. It turns out the same team has also been working on achieving the exact opposite result in cannabis plants. A variety of hemp plant genetically modified to produce little-to-no THC has been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture as safe to grow and… Read more.

A federal judge has blocked an Arkansas state law that aimed to ban hemp-derived THC products, Arkansas Business reports. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson prevents the state from enforcing the law and the judge also denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, setting a bench trial for September 7, 2024.   The ban, which took effect August 1, narrowed the definition of hemp “to recriminalize the possession, manufacturing, transportation, and shipment of certain popular hemp-derived cannabinoid products,”… Read more.

House lawmakers in North Carolina last week unanimously passed a bill to regulate hemp-derived consumables and kratom. The measure would require businesses to get licenses to sell the products, includes testing provisions, and prohibits sales to anyone under 18 years old. Eric Stahl, of The Burnt Pot Cannabis Café and Modern Apothecia, told WNCN that the law “is a perfect example” of the Legislature “trying to work on behalf of small business to create a platform” that allows current hemp industry operators to continue… Read more.

An association of regulators of state cannabis programs is asking Congress to include in the next Farm Bill new rules governing hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids, including a new definition for what constitutes “hemp” versus marijuana. If adopted, the proposed rules would have broad implications for products containing hemp-derived, intoxicating cannabinoids, including delta-8 THC. Such products have exploded in popularity since the 2018 Farm Bill was enacted. The Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) asked House and Senate committee chairs in a Sept. 15 letter to… Read more.

A draft bill in Wyoming aims to ban hemp-derived THC products and any other hemp products meant for human consumption, Cowboy State Daily reports. Under the proposal, “hemp with any detectable amount of natural or synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as any production of hemp for human consumption,” would be banned in the state.   Justin Loeffler, CEO and founder of the Wyoming Hemp Co., told Cowboy State Daily that while he understands why lawmakers are concerned about the products, he said the measure is… Read more.

Two hemp businesses and a consumer filed a lawsuit in Virginia federal court contending the state’s new restrictions on low-THC, hemp-derived products is causing financial harm to hemp companies and inhibiting interstate commerce. The lawsuit by hemp-product retailer Northern Virginia Hemp and Agriculture, North Carolina-based grower and distributor Franny’s Operations and consumer Rose Lane argues the new regulations will cause “millions of dollars of irreparable harm” while banning products that were recently legal exacerbates “potential health problems to thousands of Virginians,” the… Read more.

In at least a temporary victory for the Arkansas hemp industry, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a recent state ban on products containing intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC. Calling the ban confusing and arbitrary, U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson on Thursday granted an injunction that stops the state from enforcing it, according to Little Rock TV station KTHV. The judge’s ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by four hemp-product makers in July – the day before the ban was to… Read more.

The number of Kansas farmers licensed to cultivate hemp in the state has fallen from more than 200 in 2019 to just 41 this year, KAKE reports. The reduction in licenses comes as the share of Kansas farms growing the crop for CBD oil production fell to less than 5% – in 2019 and 2020, that share was about 90%.    Sarah Stephens, CEO of Midwest Hemp Technologies, told KAKE that while there has been “a reduction in the number of growers and the number… Read more.

Back in the regulated marijuana industry’s more heady days, a U.S. hemp-derived CBD subsidiary seemed like the must-have accessory for any Canadian cannabis company worth its bud. Canopy Growth Corp. owned a hemp farm in Springfield, New York, and planned to build a $150 million industrial park in Kirkwood, New York, to produce hemp products. Aurora Cannabis bought Reliva – a Massachusetts-based producer of hemp-derived CBD products – in a $40 million deal that included potential earnouts. And Cronos Group spent hundreds of millions of… Read more.

Nebraska law enforcement is investigating sales of hemp-derived cannabis products containing more than 0.3% THC. Most recently, authorities in Lincoln seized products, paraphernalia and financial records from five stores that previously failed compliance checks earlier this year for testing. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office joined forces with six law enforcement agencies in southeast Nebraska and allegedly bought products containing more than 5% THC from stores in recent months. Store owners and staff caught up in the… Read more.

A group of hemp companies are suing the state of Arkansas in a bid to overturn a recently enacted ban on intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC and delta-10 THC. The lawsuit was directed at Act 629, which bans the sale of products derived from hemp that are potentially intoxicating. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 629 into law earlier this year. Widespread concern over minors’ easy access to hemp-derived products – readily available since the 2018 Farm Bill became law – prompted Arkansas… Read more.

Researchers at Penn State have received a $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines Development Award which will fund the development of the Pennsylvania Industrial Hemp Engine (PAIHE).   The PAIHE, one of 44 projects funded nationally by the inaugural round of NSF awards, will support the manufacture and deployment of bio-based products for application in green building construction, packaging, fabrics, renewable energy, and land remediation.  In a statement, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said the PAIHE launch reflects the university’s “commitment to groundbreaking… Read more.

For the most part, mainstream markets today are completely missing out on the benefits of the versatile hemp plant, from its tiny seeds up to its hardy stalks. Hemp is an excellent crop for farmers because it requires far fewer resources to grow than traditional crops, replenishes the soil with nutrients and has a relatively short harvest cycle. Hemp products contain only trace amounts of THC if any at all, and will not cause a positive drug test result or any intoxication.… Read more.

Hemp and CBD product manufacturers and sellers are blocked from three fewer advertising channels after Meta Platforms Inc.—parent company of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—updated its advertising policies. But don’t get too excited. Significant restrictions still apply. Under the new policy, advertisers need written permission from Meta to promote or sell noningestible CBD products that contain less than 0.3 percent THC. Products containing more THC than allowed under federal law, those with psychoactive properties (i.e., delta-8), and ingestibles (edibles, tinctures, capsules,… Read more.

What if I told you that you could sell real cannabis edibles in traditional grocery, convenience and liquor stores in a few dozen states without being bound by local marijuana laws and regulations? What if I told you there’s a huge opportunity for cannabis companies to get their edibles in front of millions of consumers who would never consider walking into a marijuana retailer, but the biggest players in the MJ space seem too scared to take advantage of it?… Read more.

Pennsylvania’s agriculture secretary announced on Thursday that the state will be distributing $392,265 in matched funding to promote the hemp market—including by creating a curriculum to teach high school and college students about the “many uses” of the cannabis plant. The bulk of the grant funds ($315,765) will support the student initiative, with money being used to create a STEM curriculum “to effectively engage in industrial hemp production, management, and cultivation by promoting and marketing industrial hemp for its many… Read more.

Surrounded by verdant fields, Flat House, which sits on a farm in Cambridgeshire, the UK, looks like a typical barn conversion. But inside, the look and feel of the building immediately make you realise this is something quite different. "The walls remind me of hay bale dens we used to make as kids," says Flat House's owner Gemma Barron. "It has the most lovely acoustic quality. And last year we had the heating off for 24 hours in mid-winter and… Read more.

HempFusion now will explore options for bankruptcy.California-based Gaby Inc. (CSE: GABY) (OTCQB: GABLF) said that it will not be moving forward with the proposed transaction with HempFusion Wellness Inc., which the company announced on April 28. Gaby was going to buy HempFusion in an all stock deal valued at C$1.3 million. HempFusion announced on June 1 that it had ceased its manufacturing, research, and development operations, terminated the majority of its employees, and would no longer be shipping its products… Read more.

A DuPage County hemp farm is among the recipients of $12.6 million in grants to build chargers for electric vehicles. Kerry Farms will receive nearly $480,000 from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to build the chargers.   The funds for the program are part of the 2016 Volkswagen settlement, from which Illinois received about $109 million. In all, the grants will fund 348 new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) ports at 87 locations throughout the state.    In a statement, Gov. JB Pritzker… Read more.

For decades, the tobacco industry has been a worldwide behemoth, racking up billions of dollars in revenue and boasting marketing with a far-reaching impact on global culture and society. However, there is a new rookie in the economic market: hemp. This newcomer rapidly has gained popularity since it was federally legalized in the United States, thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill. Now, hemp is poised to challenge the tobacco industry’s long-standing dominance. Hemp and tobacco are both plant commodities, but… Read more.

Founded by Ally Ferguson in 2014, seeker made its public debut in 2016, offering a contemporary and sustainable low-impact wardrobe for modern, conscious consumers. Celebrities including Billie Eilish, Jameela Jamil and Charlize Theron are fans of the sinsemilla streetwear brand based on thoughtful designs and timeless silhouettes. The name Seeker is a nod to the fashion line’s stated ethos of evolving to be better than what we’ve been, of knowing more, of exposing people to another way of thinking—and being comfortable with… Read more.

Hemp plantings in the United States were nearly cut in half in 2022, with 28,400 acres dedicated to growing the plant – slightly more than the acreage set aside for Christmas trees. Put another way, at 44.4 square miles, outdoor and indoor hemp cultivation in the U.S. would fit almost entirely on Hilton Head Island, the beach and golf resort area off the coast of South Carolina. Or, for Mickey Mouse fans, most of the nation’s hemp could be grown… Read more.

The Tennessee General Assembly last week gave final approval to a hemp-derived cannabinoid regulation bill, sending it to Gov. Bill Lee (R), WATE reports. The legislation aims to regulate the production, sale, and distribution of hemp products that contain delta-8 and delta-9 THC.   Under the measure, manufacturers and sellers of hemp products that contain THC must obtain a license from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture by January 1, 2024. The bill also requires that hemp products that contain THC are tested for safety at an… Read more.

Walk into a gas station or smoke shop and you’ll see them on the shelf, packaged in colorful boxes with flavors like fruity pebbles, magic mango and grape ape gusher. Like marijuana, these cannabis-based products deliver a high. But unlike marijuana, these products are legal in Texas, thanks to laws that allowed the cultivation of hemp. Strawberry flavored gummies are for sale in a smoke shop walking distance from Pascal High School. Sticky amber-colored oil for vaping with a pineapple scent sits… Read more.

Cultivation of industrial hemp in the open in West Virginia fell nearly 50% from 2021 to 2022, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data outlined by WBOY. In all, there were 65 acres of hemp planted in the open in the state in 2021; in 2022, that fell to 35 acres.   The total area of hemp harvested in the state for all purposes also fell from 43 acres in 2021 to 30 acres in 2022, the report says. Hemp grown… Read more.

Florida House Committee OKs Hemp Product Restriction Bill Following the approval of a bill related to regulating for hemp-derived products, entrepreneurs are concerned that the bill could put them out of business. The proposed bill, HB 1475, sponsored by Republican Will Robinson Jr. of Manatee County, aims to limit the amount of THC in retail hemp products. This move is in response to the growing popularity of Delta-8, a legal product that has led to proposed hemp regulations in over 20 states in the past two years.… Read more.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is proposing a CBD carveout to a proposed state law that would enact strict regulations on hemp-derived THC products, the Virginia Mercury reports. Under the governor’s plan, hemp products that contain a 25:1 ratio of CBD to THC would not be affected by the broader hemp industry reforms being considered by lawmakers.   Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter told the Mercury on Tuesday that the amendment continues the governor’s “efforts to crack down on dangerous THC intoxicants including synthetic products such as… Read more.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Thursday vetoed a bill to raise THC levels allowed for unprocessed industrial hemp from 0.3% to 5%. Raising the THC threshold to 5% would have allowed for another processor to extract THC as it develops more uses for hemp after the initial process is completed.  In her veto statement, Noem said the proposal would have changed the definition of “product in process” by increasing the THC limits which would have allowed hemp products and crops in… Read more.

Connecticut's hemp farmers would be allowed a path into the cannabis industry under legislation that passed overwhelmingly Tuesday in a key legislative committee. The amended bill, which next moves to the state House of Representatives, would let dozens of small hemp growers apply for state cultivator or micro-cultivator licenses under the Department of Consumer Protection's cannabis program. The legislative General Law Committee approved the bill after a brief debate. The action occurred following a recent public hearing in which farmers said that during the few… Read more.

Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly voted Friday to pass a bill to toughen regulations on hemp-derived products that contain intoxicating THC through a more robust permitting system and stricter labeling rules. Retail marijuana sales will remain illegal under the proposed law. Proponents of the bill called it a necessary first step toward cracking down on largely unregulated THC products, including increasingly common delta-8 edibles, that have created safety and consumer protection concerns. “I think this will go a long way… Read more.

New York, Jan. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Industrial Hemp Market, Global Forecast 2023-2028, Industry Trends, Growth, Impact of Inflation, Opportunity Company Analysis" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06381990/?utm_source=GNWIndustrial hemp is a versatile plant that can be built up for its fiber, seed, or oil. Over time, industrial hemp has evolved into an even greater variety of products, including health foods, organic body care, clothing, construction materials, biofuels, plastic composites, and more. Furthermore, The U.S. Department of Agriculture… Read more.

As New York prepares for the imminent launch of legal adult-use marijuana sales, the governor has signed a bill aimed at expanding the state’s hemp market by promoting collaborative partnerships to identify more opportunities to utilize the crop and its derivatives for packaging, construction and other purposes. Bill sponsor Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D) announced on Tuesday that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) approved her legislation late last month. It would amend a section of New York’s agriculture law that deals with… Read more.

As Colorado hemp stakeholders kick the CBD habit, they have the opportunity to establish the state as a hotbed for hemp food production, according to a recent analysis and call to arms from the Hemp Food Association (HFA). With a small but enduring group of legacy hemp food companies, proven products and established production and supply chains, Colorado is well-positioned in a health-oriented consumer market that is turning more and more to natural products. “Colorado could maintain its historical standing in the… Read more.

Hemp building materials were officially approved in the model US residential building code at a Louisville, KY public hearing overseen by the International Code Council (ICC) last week. At the meeting, the ICC closed the public comment period for hemp+lime (hempcrete) constructionfor inclusion as an appendix in the upcoming 2024 International Residential Code (IRC). This was the final step to approve the appendix as part of the new code. The new code will be published in 2023 with Hemp-Lime (Hempcrete)… Read more.