Hemp Is Next: Colorado Wants More Than Marijuana Prominence

Already known as one of the country’s marijuana capitals, Denver is a heavyweight in the hemp industry, too, and that status is on full display at the NoCo Hemp Expo this weekend.

After five years in Loveland, the NoCo Hemp Expo moved to Denver in 2019. The Crowne Plaza DIA‘s parking lot was packed and its event center bustling on Friday, March 29 — and that was just the industry-only day. The conference is open to the general public today, March 30, with over 220 hemp and CBD vendors peddling everything from hemp clothing and shoes to CBD extraction technology.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis stopped by to check out the action, briefly speaking with attendees before taking a stroll around the expo. Polis sees Colorado as one the country’s epicenters for industrial hemp because of its recreational marijuana laws and the state Department of Agriculture’s hemp program, which has allowed farmers to grow hemp in Colorado for over five years. [Read more at Westword]