Mile High Labs, one of Colorado’s leading CBD producers, laid off employees this week, just months after undergoing a major expansion. According to chief financial officer Jon Hilley, the company cut 20 positions — less than 10% of its workforce — on Thursday. They primarily were those in entry-level... Read more
by Ryan McGuire, HK Cannabis Law On October 29, 2019, the USDA released regulations establishing a domestic hemp production program, paving the way for hemp cultivation on an industrial scale in 2020. While the potential benefits of a robust hemp industry in California are exciting, large scale industrial hemp... Read more
Arizona hemp farmers may be feeling a bit panicked after the state’s Department of Agriculture’s Plant Services Division published a report stating that 41 percent of the hemp plants they tested had THC levels that were too high. “It’s a high-risk deal,” said head farmer for Arizona Hemp Supply... Read more
A PhD Plant Biologist’s Plan to Modernize the Struggling Industry for the 21st Century Here we are, the inaugural year of American hemp cultivation has wrapped up. Hemp production jumped 479% following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, effectively making hemp (Cannabis sativa containing ≤ 0.3% THC) legal... Read more
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations. Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a half-million acres... Read more
Seven months ago, the Texas House of Representatives and State Senate unanimously voted for hemp legalization. That decision is having major repercussions on the way the state prosecutes marijuana possession, mainly because law enforcement has very limited resources when it comes to knowing the difference between marijuana and hemp.... Read more
Spot Market Updates Biomass Spot Pricing: Biomass markets continue to bifurcate between two markets: 1) the market transacting at fair market values dictated by supply and demand; 2) a market rife with desperate sellers and opportunist buyers. Because of this fragmentation, recent transaction prices vary widely. In general, homogenized... Read more
About a year ago, we were the first law firm to report on the legality of manufactured cannabidiol (“CBD”)-infused alcoholic beverages. Due to the growing popularity and mainstream nature of CBD-infused products, many alcohol beverage companies were surprised to read us conclude that blending CBD into their products was a risky business, even in hemp-friendly…
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) regulatory authority over hemp…
According to recent reports, the hemp-derived cannabidiol (“Hemp-CBD”) market is expected to grow by 700 percent by 2020 and grow to $2.1 billion by 2020. Given this significant growth forecast, sensitive business information (also known as trade secrets) has become an incredibly valuable asset for Hemp-CBD stakeholders. Realizing value from those trade secrets requires sharing them with…
