Florida gets DEA clearance to grow hemp in 2019
Florida agriculture officials have completed preparations to grow hemp in the Sunshine State and say they’re ready to plant seeds in 2019. According to Growing Produce, a trade publication for specialty-crop growers, that’s far sooner than originally expected. Florida legalized hemp production in 2017, but officials warned it could... Read more
Illinois governor approves hemp law aimed at commercial production
Illinois is no longer one of the nation’s largest hemp holdouts after Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law to allow immediate commercial production, citing activity in nearby states. The new law contains some of the nation’s strongest language protecting farmers’ ability to make money growing hemp. Farmers can submit a... Read more
CBD firm Charlotte’s Web ups Canadian IPO to CA$100M amid strong demand
Update: Gross proceeds from the Charlotte’s Web IPO, which was completed Thursday, totaled CA$115 million, including both the primary and secondary offerings. The primary offering raised CA$93.1 million from the sales of 13,312,150 common shares. The company has begun trading on the CSE under the ticker symbol CWEB. In... Read more
Maine CBD executive settles SEC complaint for $390,000
The founder of a Maine-based CBD company will pay more than $390,000 to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he advertised sales of unregistered securities on Craigslist. The SEC complaint alleges that, beginning in 2014, Richard Greenlaw of Kittery, Maine, raised approximately $500,000 from at... Read more
Ohio bans CBD sales outside medical marijuana dispensaries
Ohio health officials have declared that over-the-counter CBD sales in the state are illegal, despite the products’ widespread availability in grocery and health stores. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy said that CBD is legal only from state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, though none has opened yet, according to The (Cleveland)... Read more
Hemp Notebook: Hemp’s scramble to distance itself from marijuana veers into misinformation
(This is an abridged version of a column that appears in the July issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.) Not all hemp misinformation comes from anti-drug enemies of cannabis; some of it comes from hemp acolytes themselves. A recent comment from hemp’s most powerful friend in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch... Read more
2018 Farm Bill: What to watch for – from 6 hemp industry insiders
Hemp farmers nationwide are preparing for harvest, but they’re also keeping a close eye on Washington DC. Here are some reasons why: Congress is beginning final negotiations on the 2018 Farm Bill, which could either remove hemp from the Controlled Substances Act or revive a prohibition on growing it.... Read more
CBD extraction firm snags tax breaks, hiring assistance in Kentucky
Kentucky’s booming CBD industry received an additional boost when the state granted an extraction company roughly $240,000 in tax breaks, plus help finding and training workers. Lexington-based firm Zelios, which opened four months ago, said it plans to double its extraction capacity and create 44 full-time jobs for a total investment... Read more
Virginia to keep CBD-only medical cannabis licensing review secret
The state panel that will award Virginia’s first five CBD-only medical marijuana business licenses will keep the application review process confidential. Virginia Board of Pharmacy chair Rafael Saenz announced Tuesday that the 51 applications would be considered in closed session, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Regulators conferred about Virginia’s public-meeting law... Read more
Hemp dispute may be harbinger of approaching legal storm
Two companies are in a legal tussle over what destroyed a 600-acre hemp farming joint venture in Colorado – a conflict that industry experts say could be the first of many as eager investors and firms try to cash in on budding business opportunities. In a recent California Superior Court... Read more
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )