HempTalk - Business Blogs and Press Releases

A Vermont hemp processor accused of stealing a contract farmer’s hemp crop won’t be held personally liable for any missing profits. A civil judge dismissed the personal liability case against Vermont Hemp Co. CEO Joel Bedard, according to Heady Vermont, a website that covers the state’s cannabis industry. The lawsuit against the company will continue, […]

Vermont hemp processor wins partial victory in crop dispute is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The Senate’s top Republican says hemp shouldn’t be a controlled substance, and he plans to introduce a new bill to make the change. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell made the announcement about the proposed change to federal hemp law Monday in his home state of Kentucky. “It’s now time to take the final step and make […]

McConnell calls for removal of industrial hemp from controlled substances list is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Police seized boxes of CBD-infused gummy bears from an Alabama company that distributes products to convenience stores after receiving complaints the candies may contain THC. Authorities are testing several boxes of gummies taken Friday from American Wholesale Distributors, according to Birmingham TV station WBMA. A representative from the distribution company told WBMA the products contain only […]

CBD raids spread to Alabama as officials seize gummies over THC concerns is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Rising acceptance for hemp and CBD – combined with easing regulations at the state level – caused U.S. hemp production to surge in 2017. From 2016 to 2017, the number of acres licensed for hemp cultivation in the top 10 hemp-growing states grew by 140% – while the number of hemp producers doubled over the same […]

Chart: US hemp production soars in 2017 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A hemp education hub opening Saturday in New Zealand comes as the nation prepares for a big uptick in hemp growing because of new rules expanding how the plant can be used. According to the New Zealand Herald, the hemp innovation hub will offer consulting and education for interested hemp farmers. The owner of the […]

New Zealand hemp industry taking off with new uses, more acres is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Indiana’s long-simmering CBD confusion ended with the state’s governor signing a law clarifying that all CBD products are legal as long as they come from hemp and contain low amounts of THC. The new law specifies that anyone can sell or possess CBD products containing less than 0.3% THC and derived from hemp. Gov. Eric Holcomb’s […]

Indiana approves CBD for all, ending months of retailer confusion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The largest hemp cultivator in Maine has identified a former blueberry processing plant as its future extraction site. Future Farm Maine – a subsidiary of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Future Farm Technologies – has signed a two-year lease for 12,960 square feet of the 60,000-square-foot building in Belfast, a coastal town about 100 miles north of […]

Maine’s largest hemp grower eyes blueberry plant for processing site is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Hemp farmers in Canada say overproduction is depressing prices for seeds. The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance told the Commodity News Service that Canadian seed prices have fallen from about 75 Canadian cents (58 cents) a pound last year to 55 Canadian cents a pound this year. Canada remains the world’s biggest hemp-seed producer, devoting about […]

Canada hemp farmers blame overproduction for drooping prices is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Far from the bustling marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas and California, rural and politically conservative states with limited cannabis laws are loosening restrictions that once had marijuana entrepreneurs writing them off as infertile territory.

"Progress is being made in places you'd never have thought possible," said Keith Stroup, founder of NORML.

CBD limits loosening in states written off by marijuana reformers is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A Chinese hemp company and a California-based CBD company are building a new plant to manufacture CBD isolate in western Kentucky. The plant from HMI Group of Beijing and Kings Royal Biotech of Capistrano Beach, California, is expected to employ more than 100 people on nine acres in Bardwell, near the Mississippi River and just […]

CBD manufacturing facility under construction in Kentucky is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

When recreational marijuana hits store shelves in Canada later this summer, it will be sold in “plain packaging” that contains only a standardized cannabis symbol and one of 14 health warning messages, according to an updated set of proposals released Monday. The recommendations were part of a Health Canada report summarizing feedback from 3,200 people on […]

Canada releases rules for cannabis packaging, ‘micro-cultivation’ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A cannabis company plans to offer low-dose CBD products at convenience stores, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says federal attorneys have bigger concerns than “routine” marijuana cases, and an Arkansas judge blocks regulators from issuing MMJ business licenses. Here’s a closer look at some notable developments in the marijuana industry over the past week. Fill […]

Week in Review: CBD in gas stations, AG Sessions hints status quo for cannabis & Arkansas hits MMJ snag is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A $100,000 infusion for Washington agriculture regulators has saved the state’s hemp oversight program – but the lifeline has failed to convince the largest grower to plant another crop. The money came in the final budget agreement at the Washington state legislature, according to Capital Press, which covers agricultural news in the Pacific Northwest. Washington’s […]

Washington hemp oversight restored after state allocates $100,000 for regulators is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Seven companies have applied to sell low-THC medical marijuana at 21 separate locations in Iowa. The state is expected to grant licenses for five locations next month.   Applicants paid a $5,000 fee for each application and won’t be able to open until early 2019, the Des Moines Register reported. Iowa’s medical marijuana program is quite […]

Seven Iowa businesses angle for low-THC medical cannabis retail licenses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A California company that markets and distributes marijuana and hemp is making a play for convenience stores. Marijuana Company of America, a holding company with stakes in hemp and marijuana, is launching a line of CBD topicals, tinctures and edibles in sample sizes. The products will be sold in one-, two- and 30-day supplies. “The […]

Cannabis company makes play for convenience-store CBD market is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian companies are getting a head start on the country’s marijuana-infused beverages industry, even before legislation has been introduced to legalize THC-added products. Companies are turning to cannabidiol, which does not have psychoactive effects and is already legal, to get a leg up on competitors. Recreational cannabis flower and oil are expected to be legalized in Canada by the […]

Canadian companies gear up for cannabis-infused market before legalization is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A major hemp industry group in Europe wants to see higher THC limits to meet the threshold in the United States and Canada. The European Industrial Hemp Association, based in Huerth, Germany, called on EU regulators to raise hemp’s THC limit from 0.2% to 0.3%. The U.S. and Canada allow hemp to contain no more […]

European hemp group seeks higher THC limits to compete with North America is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Pennsylvania ponders allowing smokable flower to combat a medical marijuana supply shortage, police in Juneau, Alaska, green light transporting cannabis on commercial airlines, and Idaho lawmakers shelve a CBD bill. Here’s a closer look at some notable developments in the marijuana industry over the past week. Slim pickings in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program hit […]

Week in Review: Smokable flower in PA, MJ air transport in Alaska & CBD setback in Idaho is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

By Daniel Kruse
Special to HempToday

If Europe doesn’t move fast on hemp, we’ll be missing an historic opportunity to maintain our rightful place as the leader of the crop’s revival in the 20th and 21st centuries. And it all comes down to THC.

While most European countries follow an EU directive that sets THC limits for hemp at 0.2%, leading hemp nations around the world operate on a generally accepted global standard of 0.3%.

That EU member states – guided by wobbly directives from Brussels — continue to operate under the 0.2% THC limit, puts our producers at a critical disadvantage as the global hemp industry quickly expands.

Seven Italian hemp producers will have products in HempToday’s HempBoutique popup showroom at NoCo Hemp Expo Friday and Saturday, April 6-7, in Loveland, Colorado, USA.

The seven fly the flag of Federcanapa, the Italian federation that backs hemp initiatives throughout Italy’s regions, and represent the agriculture, health & beauty and food sectors. Rachele Invernizzi, Federation President and President at SouthHemp Tecno srl, one of Italy’s leading hemp processors, is representing Federcanapa at NoCo.

For small, innovative producers

Ten other companies from as far away as Nepal and South Africa, along with European vendors from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and France also will have products in the HempBoutique, situated in the Global Hemp Village section on the Expo floor.

The Boutique aims to give small, specialized producers a chance to get their products and innovations exposure in the fast-growing U.S. market, said Hana Gabrielová of Czech-based Hempoint, who is leading the HempBoutique supplier group.

International panel is set

Both Gabrielová and Invernizzi also will sit on the HempToday international panel set to run 3:20 to 4:05 p.m. Friday on the NoCo Mainstage, moderated by HempToday. The finalized panel: