(This is an abridged version of a column that appears in the October issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.) How’s this for irony? The hemp industry’s rush to distance itself from marijuana has gone so far that hemp products can’t be sold in the world’s largest cannabis economy. The development in... Read more
A Rhode Island decision to expand medical marijuana access has a worrying caveat for many in the CBD industry: Patients must first try an FDA-approved version of the drug. That classification by the Food and Drug Administration is currently limited to Epidiolex, an epilepsy treatment made by United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical... Read more
As state laws around cannabidiol continue to change, stand-alone CBD stores may become a relic. According to estimates from Hemp Industry Daily in the 2018 Hemp & CBD Industry Factbook, CBD sales in the U.S. are expected to exceed $1 billion by 2020. More than half (55%) of retail respondents to a survey for... Read more
When Canada’s legal recreational marijuana market launches Wednesday, the nation will also allow its roughly 250 hemp farmers to sell flower for CBD extraction – a change that could have a global impact on CBD prices. “There are a lot of hemp producers who have been saving and drying... Read more
Noting hemp’s relaxed oversight compared to marijuana, a Canadian cannabis company has launched a new hemp company and signed a $500,000 CBD deal with a Kentucky hemp producer. Ascent Industries announced the creation of Thirty Eight Hemp Co. to produce CBD products for sale in the United States. Vancouver,... Read more
A Colorado research firm that is working on THC-free hemp cultivars is the first U.S. acquisition by Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corp. Canopy has agreed to acquire Evergreen-based Ebbu for $25 million Canadian dollars ($19.3 million) and 6.2 million shares, the Ontario company announced Monday, and will pay another... Read more
Tiger Hemp Beer is facing a trademark challenge over similarities to Heineken’s Tiger Beer. Hemp is a booming new industry, but some of the obstacles facing entrepreneurs are decidedly old. That’s the case for a startup hemp beer seeking trademark protection for its new brand, which is running headfirst... Read more
The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, is considering selling CBD products in Canada, a development that comes just days before recreational marijuana markets open in the country. But Walmart says it isn’t ready to start selling cannabidiol just yet. “As we would for any new industry, Walmart Canada has done... Read more
Loveland, Colorado-based Mile High Labs has closed a $35 million Series A funding round as it works to expand globally. The raise was led by institutional investors from the United States and Europe, as well as family offices and a venture capital fund. Mile High Labs’ success lands as companies... Read more
A government-owned petroleum firm in Poland has struck a deal to produce bioethanol from hemp. Grupa Lotos, one of the 10 largest fuel companies in Central Europe by sales, entered the agreement with the state-owned Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants, Hemp Today reported. The Institute grows and... Read more
