by Hempington Post | Jan 29, 2019
As a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with bi-coastal processing centers, Hemp Inc. has the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in the western hemisphere (in Spring Hope, North Carolina). The company recaps its key business developments and successes in 2018.
“I am incredibly proud of all that our team accomplished in 2018,” says Hemp, Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin (picture above). “Hemp, Inc. was at the center of news coverage (including Forbes) surrounding the legalization of hemp that came with the historic passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.”
After years of prohibition, industrial hemp became federally legal in America. President Trump signed off on the 2018 Farm Bill, in December 2018, which redefined hemp as an agricultural commodity, but more importantly, removed it from the Controlled Substances Act. Hemp is no longer considered a Schedule 1 substance and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will no longer be able to interfere with the interstate commerce of hemp products. With its ever-expanding footprint across the nation, this has been a huge win for Hemp, Inc.
“This historic event in our nation’s industry created and will continue to create a tremendous amount of opportunities for the small family farm, local communities, the U.S. economy, and a myriad of industries,” Perlowin continues. “At the same time, I continued to travel the country meeting with farmers who are growing hemp or wanted to learn more about this incredibly valuable crop. In the coming year, I look forward to building upon our success and accomplishments as we continue to rapidly expand our footprint and bring new hemp products to market.”
Some expect the global industrial hemp industry to hit $20 billion by 2022. Until recently, the U.S. has imported, on average, $100 million worth of hemp products each year, according to Congressional Research Service. Now, hemp legalization will allow American farmers and companies to tap that market.
In addition to the company’s 85,000 square foot multi-purpose industrial hemp processing facility in North Carolina, Hemp, Inc. also has one the most sophisticated hemp local processing centers in Medford, Oregon, and a 4,500-acre hemp-growing eco-village in Golden Valley, Arizona. They continue to scout new locations for local processing centers nationwide. The processing center in Medford is one of the most sophisticated hemp harvesting and post processing centers in the state of Oregon, and its operations in Arizona consist of a 4,500-acre hemp growing eco-village that they are actively building out for 300 acres of hemp cultivation. The company aims to boost the economies of these towns by offering affordable hemp processing services, which incentivizes local growers to add hemp to their crop rotation.
by Hempington Post | Jan 22, 2019
In December last year, US President Donald Trump raised some eyebrows when he signed the 2018 Farm Bill — a bill including the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which sees hemp officially removed from the Controlled Substances Act.
In short, this means that hemp can now be regulated as an agricultural crop, representing a major win for hemp growers and hemp CBD companies (CBD stands for cannabidiol — you can learn how CBD interacts with the body here).
The bill has been fully passed and enacted into law, removing any federal regulations preventing companies from growing, marketing and selling hemp.
It’s a significant milestone that will make it easier for companies to access federally regulated services like insurance or access to capital, as well as access to utilities like water — a key concern when growing hemp.
This would seem like a predictable move, as part and parcel of Trump’s broader deregulation agenda, except for the fact that the legal status of cannabis is still a controversial topic in the Republican Party — despite the fact that both medical and recreational marijuana use is now legal in multiple US states.
The US President’s attitude towards legalizing marijuana could make him an unlikely champion for the cause. Given the overwhelming popular support for the change, he may be eyeing the opportunity to improve his chances of reelection in 2020.
What ever Trump’s reasons for signing off on the bill, there are plenty of companies and investors who now stand to benefit, and this could well precipitate a further boost to the burgeoning cannabis and hemp markets.
Meanwhile, ASX ag-tech junior, CropLogic (ASX:CLI), has had its eye on the Oregon hemp market for some months now.
CLI is an award-winning, New Zealand-born ag-tech company which offers farmers and growers of irrigated crops the latest in science, agronomy and technology through its key software, CropLogic realTime.
CropLogic: several steps ahead
In November, CLI announced it was looking closely at opportunities within the Oregon industrial hemp market (which is the third largest in the US), and had appointed two consultants to help: corporate advisor Green Rush Advisory Group and law firm Green Light Law Group.
CLI launched its CropLogic realTime product offering into Washington State last year, and the small-cap services a significant number of horticultural growers in the region — holding up to 30% market share in some crops.
The ag-tech junior believes it is well-placed to take advantage of the emerging agronomy and digital agricultural trends in hemp and CBD production and currently sees Oregon as the place to be.
Today, the company revealed it has received a significant report as part of its engagement with Green Rush Advisory Group.
That report includes details relating to the current trends and demand for hemp and CBD products, licensing and growers, the addressable market, and the future potential of this market for CLI.
The report compares the market and growth drivers for industrial hemp with that of the medical and recreational marijuana industries, noting that industrial hemp growth is due to the “relatively low cost of engagement, comparatively lower owner and investor risk regarding hemp production, continual research and confirmed benefits of CBD products which can be manufactured using industrial hemp, as well as scalability advantage with there being no limit on the scale of hemp production in Oregon”.
Furthermore, the report has provided CLI with insight into which license type it would require for industrial hemp — grower, handler or agricultural hemp seed registration — with the company determining it would seek to obtain the grower license.
Oregon currently has 576 registered industrial hemp grower registrations, which represents a 4369% increase since licensing began in 2015. Moreover, the acreage used for industrial hemp has grown 960% to 11,000 acres.
The company compares the rate of growth to that of the hops market in Washington, which CLI is already servicing.
The report also identifies three potential ways forward for CLI, with Green Rush recommending that the small-cap either start a new hemp business, buy an existing hemp business or create a stakeholder engagement campaign in order to develop prospective collaborations with hemp licensees. However, before the company makes the final decision, it will wait to receive the advisory report from Green Light Law Group.
Oregon hemp market set to explode?
With the 2018 Farm Bill now enacted into law, these times could prove prosperous for CLI and any company with an interest in the US hemp growing market.
It’s a convergence of events that could see hemp growers begin to crop up (so to speak) all over the place. With the effects of rising carbon emissions — and with them, the earth’s temperature — growers of irrigated crops are going to need help managing water resources, among other things.
An article in Oregon Business from October last year describes the Oregon hemp industry as “like a raging river, restrained by a dam that might soon break and allow products to flood an array of new markets”, citing the 2018 Farm Bill as a potential (at the time, future) turning point.
Forbes highlighted the news in an article published December 30, although with the US government shutdown beginning on December 22, the weight of the event got lost amid the furore.
However, Twitter users have begun to pick up on the news in the last few 24 hours with an influx of tweets on the topic.
A promising point to note for CLI — and other hemp/cannabis-related small caps on the ASX — is that the decision by the US President is sure to be looked at closely by other countries, including Australia, which would not want to fall too far behind in the burgeoning field of medicinal cannabis and hemp products.
According to the Brightfield Group report (2018), hemp CBD sales in the US are forecast to grow from US$174 million in 2016 to US$22 billion by 2022.
If the prediction is right, it would represent a runaway CAGR of 138%.
By Megan Graham is Head Editor at Finfeed. Published at Jan 21, 2019, in Features.
by Hempington Post | Jan 19, 2019
In a letter to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said farmers in Oregon and the rest of the nation stand to make solid economic progress for their communities if FDA loosens the regulations on hemp and CBD.
The two U.S. senators from Oregon who worked with Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to pass the Hemp Farming Act have asked FDA to update regulations to allow for the use of hemp products, namely cannabidiol (CBD), in food, beverage and dietary supplement products.
In a letter to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said farmers in Oregon and the rest of the nation stand to make solid economic progress for their communities if FDA loosens the regulations on hemp and CBD.
“In recent years, the public has developed a widespread interest in the production and use of CBD, one of the primary non-psychoactive compounds in Cannabis sativa L.,” the senators, both Democrats, wrote in the letter. “We therefore request the FDA immediately begin updating regulations for hemp-derived CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids, and give U.S. producers more flexibility in the production, consumption and sale of hemp products.”
The senators assured such a move by FDA would honor the spirit and intent of the Hemp Farming Act, which is a provision in the Farm Bill (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018) President Trump signed into law on Dec. 20, 2018. The act expanded federal authority over the production and marketing of hemp, which was defined as cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) with low concentrations of the psychoactive constituent THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Under this new law, hemp is no longer a controlled substance.
“We will be closely engaged in the ongoing implementation of our legislation, as it was Congress’ intent to ensure that both U.S producers and consumers have access to a full range of hemp-derived products, including hemp-derived cannabinoids,” the senators wrote to Gottlieb.
Though the new law loosened restrictions on the hemp industry, it did not limit FDA’s authority to regulate CBD. Since 2015, the agency has asserted products containing CBD and THC can’t be sold in dietary supplements and that it’s illegal in interstate commerce to sell a food to which either of the compounds has been added.
“Congress explicitly preserved the agency’s current authority to regulate products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and section 351 of the Public Health Service Act,” Gottlieb noted in a statement released after the Farm Bill was signed into law. “This allows the FDA to continue enforcing the law to protect patients and the public while also providing potential regulatory pathways for products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds.”
But Gottlieb offered hope to marketers of CBD. He disclosed his agency is considering whether it should pursue issuance of a regulation that would authorize the use of CBD in foods and dietary supplements. The possibility of a pathway—the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would have to issue a regulation following notice and comment—for CBD in foods, beverages and dietary supplements further emboldened a burgeoning market for CBD products that has been growing in scope and popularity despite the regulatory hurdles.
According to Hemp Business Journal, the hemp-derived CBD market generated $390 million for 2018 in the United States. The publication is projecting $1.4 billion in sales in 2022, though its founder, Sean Murphy, said in an email that one could reasonably argue the market will generate between $1.5 billion and $3 billion by 2022 depending on various factors, including what happens with FDA.
Despite the passage of the Farm Bill, “current, outdated regulations limit producers from taking full advantage of the industrial hemp market by, for example, prohibiting food products containing CBD from being sold across state lines,” Merkley and Wyden wrote in their letter to Gottlieb.
While Gottlieb has suggested a possible legal pathway for CBD products in beverage, food and supplement products, the letter from Merkley and Wyden sought more details. Acknowledging FDA is running lean during the government shutdown, the senators asked the agency to respond to several questions within 30 days of the government’s reopening:
- What steps is FDA advancing to clarify to the public the authority the agency has in the production and marketing of hemp, specifically Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives?
- What lawful pathways are currently available for those who seek approval to introduce Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives as a food, beverage or dietary supplement, including into interstate commerce?
- Are there circumstances in which Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives may be permitted as a food, beverage or dietary supplement by the agency?
- Will the agency consider issuing a regulation, or pursing a process, that would allow Cannabis sativa L. and its derivatives in food, beverages or dietary supplements that cross state lines?
A marketer of CBD-containing supplements welcomed the senators’ letter to FDA.
“We have been preparing for this moment since 2014 and could not be happier with the good news,” said Stuart Tomc, vice president of human nutrition with CV Sciences Inc., in a statement. “CV Sciences is thrilled that the FDA is open to regulating hemp extracts as dietary supplements, first because they are, and second, because we currently meet all of the dietary supplement requirements.”
This story originally appeared at Natural Products Insider
by Hempington Post | Jan 19, 2019
Hemp has been helping people heal for millennia.
Like with many plants, we can’t be sure when people first began experimenting with hemp for medicinal purposes. That said, Carl Sagan believed hemp was likely one of the first crops cultivated.
Most plants are used first in folk remedies. These aren’t necessarily written down for a long time, passing down via oral traditions. There is a good chance that hemp was used medicinally long before the effects were recorded.
One thing to keep in mind as you read this is that there isn’t necessarily a lot of distinction between hemp and marijuana in historical texts. What is clear, though, is the long history of using hemp for multiple purposes, researching its effectiveness on a variety of symptoms and maladies. While we’ve lost a lot of this knowledge due to research restrictions and the passage of time, we are finally beginning to reclaim and rediscover new things about hemp every day.
HEMP AS MEDICINE IN ANCIENT TIMES
Ancient China is where we first encounter medicinal use of hemp. From around 6000 BCE on, hemp was used in tools, clothing, shoes, and food.
It wasn’t until 2737 BCE that there is written evidence of hemp as medicine. Emperor Shen-Nung developed topical hemp oils and teas to aid in pain relief. He wrote his findings in the first editions of the Pen Ts’ao Ching. Later on, other pharmacopoeias would list the medicinal effects of flowers, leaves, and seeds of the cannabis plant. Hua Tuo was the first person on record to use cannabis as an anesthetic in the second century. He notes that this plant can also aid in the treatment of blood clots, tapeworms, and hair loss.
The Romans had a long history of hemp use. Circa 77 AD, Pliny the Elder noted how helpful hemp was for the extraction of insects from ears and for pain relief. However, he made sure to note excessive use can negatively affect sexual performance. Around the same time, Disocorides wrote a pharmacopeia listing the medical benefits of hemp. These include assisting with ear pain, stomach-related issues, and burns. By 200 AD, Galen mentions again the ability of hemp to relieve pain, but notes that it can cause stomach pain, headaches, and dehydration.
Cannabis use was popular among many people in Middle Eastern regions, especially due to the prohibition on alcohol from Islam. With the abundance of the plant, it’s no surprise that physicians knew hemp well. They were aware of and noted the many benefits of the plant — it was found to be anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, anti-emetic, anti-epileptic, diuretic, and more.
These are far from the only regions known to utilize hemp plants medicinally. In India, the Atharvaveda lists hemp as a sacred grass. They’ve used pastes, drinks, and parts of the plant both medicinally and recreationally for centuries. Hemp has been found buried with Ancient Greeks. Egyptians wrote about using hemp in an eyewash in the Ramesseum III Papyri. Later writing would highlight both pain relief and inflammation.
Across regions and history, one thing seems clear — hemp was being used for pain relief.
THE HISTORY OF HEMP MEDICINE IN THE WESTERN WORLD
Hemp spread across the world through travel and use as fibers. Across Europe, hemp was used to treat tumors and coughs — as well as recreationally. By the sixteenth century, hemp was one of the main crops grown in England. In 1533, Henry VIII commanded farmers to grow hemp or face a fine. During this century, physicians Garcia de Orta and Li Shih-Chen discovered new uses for the plant — to improve appetite and as an antibiotic, respectively.
By the seventeenth century, hemp had made it to North America. It was grown in Jamestown and other colonies for use in clothing, building materials, and sails. In 1619, the Virginia Assembly passed a familiar law mandating each farmer to grow hemp. Similar laws would be passed in Massachusetts and Connecticut, with the plant being accepted as legal tender in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
During this time, Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” recommends hemp use to improve and treat mental health disorders. In the eighteenth century, two additional pharmacopoeias listed hemp’s many medicinal properties. “The New England Dispensatory” and “Edinburgh New Dispensatory” list hemp as a treatment for pain and skin inflammation, and cough respectively.
Despite hemp’s listing in many medical texts, one man is often credited as the main person to popularize the plant in the West — W.B. O’Shaughnessy. As an surgeon and professor at the Medical College of Calcutta in the 1800s, the Irish O’Shaughnessy was conducting experiments about cannabis indica on animals, children, and adults. He noted the analgesic effects in addition to its ability to relax muscles. Patients with rheumatic diseases, cholera, tetanus, and hydrophobia were all treated with hemp under his care. While it wasn’t necessarily a true treatment for some of these conditions, O’Shaughnessy noted it offered hope and removed some of the negative emotional effects of illness.
Just before the Civil War, the third edition of the U,S. pharmacopeia lists hemp extract. The U.S. Dispensatory does as well, adding medical cannabis. It was known to be intoxicating, yes, but also pain relieving and sleep inducing. Hemp was recommended for a variety of health issues from neuralgia and convulsions to depression and gout. At the end of the nineteenth century, Dr. JR Reynolds’ research showed improvement in tics, migraines, asthma, and dysmenorrhea.
At the turn of the century, hemp’s use medicinally declined thanks to the introduction of opiates and the development of the syringe. Still, medications like Chlorodyne — a cannabis and morphine combination to treat stomach issues — grew in popularity. On top of that, folk remedies and snake oil cures often included cannabis in addition to other drugs and medications.
When the war on drugs began, cannabis was prohibited, leaving patients using it for medical reasons often out of luck. In the 1970s, extracts and synthetic cannabis drugs were developed to help treat nausea associated with chemotherapy use for cancer and autoimmune conditions. Others were used to treat glaucoma as well. During this decade, the U.S. saw the beginnings of medical marijuana legalization ideals in places like New Orleans and New Mexico. While these programs helped patients with glaucoma, cancer, and other conditions, they were often short-lived due to DEA restrictions.
It wasn’t until 1996 that California would legalize medical marijuana for a number of conditions including HIV/AIDS and cancer. Arizona followed quickly. By the early 2000s, Canada legalized MMJ as well. Although research on hemp, cannabis, and marijuana is incredibly restricted in many places, the last decade has seen an increase in medications using these plants. One great example is Nabiximols (or Sativex), a THC/CBD spray used to help ease multiple sclerosis symptoms.
REEFER MADNESS AND THE WAR ON DRUGS
The twentieth century quickly saw changes in attitude towards cannabis, from intrigued to fearful. The Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 began to crack down on cannabis use by imposing restrictions on foreign and interstate traffic. Down the line, this law would also create the FDA. By 1913, California and other states began to prohibit the use of cannabis, often targeting Mexican immigrants in raids use the 1906 act.
The 1914 Harrison Act and the media — like the infamous film “Reefer Madness” — helped to turn much of the public against cannabis. The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act classified hemp and marijuana as the same thing, something that still creates roadblocks today. By this time, marijuana was banned in over twenty states. During World War II, though, regulation of these laws was lessened to aid in the production of hemp materials for the war effort.
By 1970, hemp and marijuana cultivation was banned under the Controlled Substances Act. States could allow cultivation of industrial hemp but, like dispensaries in weed-legal states today, farms could be raided by the DEA. Cannabis was labeled as a Schedule 1 drug, which has heavily restricted research over the last nearly fifty years.
REDISCOVERING HEMP AS A MEDICINE: CBD OIL & BEYOND
Because of the intense limitations posed by the war on drugs, research on cannabis has been conducted at only a few universities across the United States. There are strict rules on who can conduct the research, which funding they can use, and even what forms of cannabis are studied. Successful studies include the effects of cannabis on spinal cord injury pain, HIV neuropathy, MS spasticity, and sleep.
In 2014, President Obama signed the Farm Bill which helped eliminate some of the issues around growing hemp so that, currently, 30 states allow industrial hemp cultivation. That number looks to be growing, too.
This is a great thing for people who rely on CBD to treat their health issues. CBD research has been going on for over two decades. It’s been shown to have incredible effects on seizures, pain, anxiety, inflammation, insomnia, fibromyalgia, cancer, Crohn’s disease, PTSD, and more. There are currently studies being done on CBD’s effects on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, and MS.
Unfortunately for people living with chronic conditions, past and current restrictions on hemp research mean a delay in relief of their symptoms. We have lost a lot of knowledge and information about hemp’s medicinal properties over the years. Many have missed out on the potential benefits hemp could bring them due to restrictions, laws, and stigma.
The good news, though, is that we are starting to rediscover this data and improve our knowledge about hemp’s medical properties.
This story first appeared at Ministry of Hemp
Kirsten Schultz is a sex educator and writer currently based in Wisconsin. Through their work as a queer disability activist, they have earned a reputation for tearing down barriers while mindfully causing constructive trouble. They have worked with organizations all around the world, including Healthline, Pfizer, the University of Guelph, and the Arthritis Foundation. In addition, their work has been featured in articles from publications such as US News, Broadly, HelloFlo, and Everyday Health. Kirsten holds an MS in Healthcare Administration from Utica College. You can learn more about them and their work at kirstenschultz.org or on Twitter @kirstie_schultz.
by Hempington Post | Jan 3, 2019
Outperforming standard supercapacitors up to 200 percent, hemp-based supercapacitors could be the future of green technology.
At the Ministry of Hemp, we’re a little biased about our favorite plant in the world: hemp. But it seems like everyday we find newer and better ways that it can be used.
One innovation we recently discovered? Scientists discovered how to use hemp in supercapacitor electrodes. A supercapacitor is the lesser-known alternative to traditional electrical energy storage. Right now, a supercapacitor is the second best option for storing power, after batteries. However, more research could change that.
Below we’ll introduce you to hemp supercapacitors and how hemp could play a part in our energy future.
WHAT’S A SUPERCAPACITY, ANYWAYS?
The most famous form of energy storage is the battery, an object that contains two opposing electrical terminals separated by electrolytes. When you turn on the power, a chemical reaction occurs between the electrolytes and electrodes, producing electric energy for your device. Since batteries rely on electrolyes, and electrolytes wear out, all batteries need to be replaced. In addition, batteries take a very long time to fully charge. Today, we use batteries everywhere; in our phones, laptops, and more recently, our cars.
Capacitors work very differently from the traditional battery. In short, a normal capacitor is comprised of two metal plates and an insulating material between the plates called a dielectric. In a capacitor, positive & negative build up on the plates. Rather than electrolytes, capacitors store electrical energy within the plates.
Supercapacitors on the other hand, are different for two ways. Their plates have a “bigger” surface area and the distance between the plates is much shorter. Supercapacitors are usually coated in a porous substance such as activated charcoal. These coatings are called the “supercapacitor electrodes.” The electrodes serve as more storage on the plates, giving them more surface area to store electricity. Think of normal non-coated capacitors as mops; which can only absorb so much water, and supercapacitors as sponges, soaking up much more water than its surface area. The website Explain That Stuff published a great explanation of supercapacitorsin August.
Unlike batteries, supercapacitors charge almost instantaneously and last much longer than batteries. Their biggest drawback, preventing them from being the popular choice, is the amount of energy that is able to be stored within them. Right now, supercapacitors only store a fraction of the power of a traditional battery, but scientists are working hard to find a way around this problem.
THE MIGHTY HEMP SUPERCAPACITOR
Today’s supercapacitors commonly use graphene, a carbon nanomaterial to create electrodes. But making graphene costs up to $2000 per gram.
In 2013, Researchers at the University of Alberta National Institute for Nanotechnology found a more economical material in hemp. These scientists discovered how to process raw hurds (the plant’s woody core) into activated carbons through hydrothermal processing and chemical activation. The final product is one that’s able to soak up more electricity, providing better energy capacity. The solution produces not only a cheaper material — $5000 per ton — but one that performs up to four times better than graphene. Better yet, the solution uses the hemp stems, the part that is often left unused during other forms of hemp processing. With this, the entire plant is used, and no part is left to waste!
If this solution can be easily reproduced, it would affect far more than just the electronics industries. Supercapacitors represent a fundamental shift in energy storage. Imagine if every battery powered object used hemp powered instead! It would mean that hemp would be undeniable in its utilitarian value. Remaining anti-hemp governments would be hard-pressed to keep the plant banned from commercial use.
LEGAL HEMP MEANS MORE HEMP RESEARCH
With the passing of the Farm Bill — making industrial hemp a lawful agricultural commodity in the United States — hemp research is ready to take a big leap. Someday, we could be driving hemp-powered cars and using phones that are powered by hemp!
Not only will consumer products change with legal hemp, but if hemp supercapacitors are adapted to a larger scale, we might see a shift in the infrastructure of the entire country. The possibilities for this greener, cleaner, and sustainable crop seem limitless! With legal hemp, countless industries stand to benefit.
Ellijah Pickering is a freelance writer based out of Michigan. He loves to write about music, sports, the cannabis industry, movies & television.
