{"id":8542,"date":"2018-11-20T13:50:13","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T13:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3258120"},"modified":"2018-11-20T13:50:13","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T13:50:13","slug":"hemp-taking-off-as-viable-product-and-colorado-entrepreneurs-are-at-the-forefront-of-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-taking-off-as-viable-product-and-colorado-entrepreneurs-are-at-the-forefront-of-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp taking off as viable product, and Colorado entrepreneurs are at the forefront of industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-taking-off-as-viable-product-and-colorado-entrepreneurs-are-at-the-forefront-of-industry\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Rianna Meyer doesn\u2019t like talking about herself. When prompted, she ticks off a list of milestones: joining the Air Force, becoming a firefighting captain, finding her way to the Antarctic by way of Thailand. Her words tumble out with quick cadence, ready to talk about her latest adventure: hemp farming.<\/p>\n<p>If she was a record, you would probably want to pick the needle up and play that first part over a few times. Yes, she lived in Antarctica and worked as a firefighter in one of the coldest places on Earth for five years.<\/p>\n<p>Now, she is the vice president of operations for SanSal Wellness\u2019 Veritas Farm in Pueblo. SanSal is an agribusiness wellness company that operates the Veritas Farm from their headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The farm grows and processes on-site hemp products that include medicinal oils, lip balm and gummies.<\/p>\n<p>Like with marijuana, Colorado entrepreneurs have been at the forefront of building up hemp as a viable undertaking.<\/p>\n<p>The state cultivates the most hemp out of any state with 30,825 registered acres, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Historically, between 60-70 percent of the registered\u00a0acres are cultivated.<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s mix of a robust agricultural economy, hemp-friendly technology and scientific research on the plant are the key factors for Colorado\u2019s success, said Hunter Buffington, executive director of the Colorado Hemp Industries Association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are leading the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3276790\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/hemp-taking-off-as-viable-product-and-colorado-entrepreneurs-are-at-the-forefront-of-industry-4.jpg\" width=\"5002\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Rianna Meyer, Vice President of Operations at Veritas Farms, is in the hemp oil extraction room on Nov. 7, 2018, in Pueblo. The farm grows and process hemp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Cannabis\u2019 lesser-known cousin<\/h3>\n<p>The cousin of cannabis that has negligible amounts of the high-inducing THC is projected to experience billion-dollar growth over the next few years. But a potential roadblock to the industry growth is the latest Farm Bill that is stalled in the legislative process in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>The bill would fully legalize hemp farming, a practice that became a causality of cannabis prohibition. By Colorado law, hemp must contain less than 0.3 percent THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), cannabis\u2019 high-inducing compound.<\/p>\n<p>The hemp industry saw its re-birth in 2014 when that year\u2019s Farm Bill opened the door for its legal growth. The bill allowed cultivation for research purposes and allowed states to institute \u201cpilot programs.\u201d But hemp stayed, and as for now remains, a Schedule 1 drug along with heroin and ecstasy, the DEA\u2019s highest classification.<\/p>\n<p>In Colorado, 2014 was the year that Amendment 64 legalized cannabis and hemp, giving the state\u2019s farmers a head start to grow the crop.<\/p>\n<p>Hemp has more than 20,000 industrial applications, Buffington said. The plant\u2019s by-products can be found in everything from veggie burgers to computer chips; one Colorado company even makes artisanal soaps infused with hemp extracts. But the biggest potential for growth is in medicinal applications. Cannabidiol (CBD) oil, extracted from hemp seeds, has been fashioned into pills, infused lotions and other over-the-counter products.<\/p>\n<p>CBD has become the latest \u201cwonder drug\u201d to hit the market. Companies have touted the oil\u2019s ability to ail a range of symptoms. But science has yet to back up many of the industry\u2019s boldest claims, Derek Thomas, vice president of business development at SanSal Wellness, said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a lot of disinformation and misinformation out there,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p>SanSal produces \u201cfull-spectrum\u201d products, meaning they use more non-high inducing compounds than just CBD.<\/p>\n<p>Since research on hemp has only been legal since 2014, much of the science is still being conducted. Thomas has heard everything from hemp being a cure for cancer to Alzheimer\u2019s, unproven claims he feels could pigeonhole hemp oil products into being the next snake oil.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere needs to be governing bodies that make sure the testing is standardized and efficacious,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p>To grow hemp, farmers need to be a registered grower with the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The CDA only regulates the cultivation of the plant, with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regulating the production and sale of hemp products.<\/p>\n<p>Last summer, the the health department released new policy that hemp grown by registered farmers in Colorado can sell their plants for food consumption provided that it is labeled correctly and under 0.3 percent THC.<\/p>\n<p>Federal law still bans hemp from being in food products, creating blind spots in the regulation of hemp\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3276789\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/hemp-farm-Pueblo-rj-1266.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" width=\"4472\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Workers remove stems from dried hemp plants at Veritas Farms, on Nov. 7, 2018, in Pueblo. The farm grows and process hemp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Changing legal landscape<\/h3>\n<p>Passed on Election Day, Amendment X added a new regulation the state\u2019s books that the legislature will have control over. The 0.3 percent limit of THC originally enshrined in the state constitution and will be moved to a legislative matter, giving lawmakers more leeway to shift the bar. The move was launched in anticipation of the federal government legalizing hemp and potentially setting different THC level requirements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving the definition of hemp set in stone by the state\u2019s constitution is inflexible,\u201d Dr. Jon Vaught, founder and CEO of\u00a0Front Range Biosciences,\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<p>But giving more control to legislatures could mean stricter regulations if opinion flips.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus far (legislators) earned some credit for the work they\u2019ve done to date, but healthy paranoia is good,\u201d Vaught said.<\/p>\n<p>While cultivation of hemp is spread out all across the state, some old mining towns on the Western Slope are finding new life with hemp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoulder,\u00a0Larimer, Delta County and Mesa County are four other counties that have a significant number of registrations,\u201d Duane Sinning, director of the Division of Plant Industry at the state agriculture department said.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Trenkle is a busy man these days. He operates 750 acres of bushy green plants in three farms across Colorado, two on the Western Slope in Rifle and New Castle and one south of Colorado Springs in Hanover.<\/p>\n<p>Trenkle is the president and CEO of the All American Hemp Company, a hemp farm and soon-to-be processing company. He found farming late in life and has joined a growing scene of businesses leaders flocking to the new market.<\/p>\n<p>His grandparents were wheat and corn farmers in Akron in northeast Colorado, but the farming gene skipped a generation over his parents, who worked in suburban Denver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a great time to be a hemp farmer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For instance: Nucla farmers dry out their hemp in an old gymnasium, hemp farms are springing up around between wineries in Mesa County, and Montrose recently received a grant to grow their hemp industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are lots of economic opportunities in rural and agricultural areas,\u201d Buffington, of the Colorado Hemp Industries Association, said.<\/p>\n<h3>Hemp is history<\/h3>\n<p>Hemp has been a part of the U.S. economy before the first drops of ink were put to the Declaration of Independence. In those days, hemp was one of the main sources of textile fiber, used mainly for rope, burlap and ship sail manufacturing,\u00a0said Les Stark, a board member of Pennsylvania hemp industry council and hemp historian.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3276787\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/hemp-farm-Pueblo-rj-1198.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Raymond Weil works on trimming one ...\" width=\"5568\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Raymond Weil works on trimming one of the mother plants at Veritas Farms on Nov. 7, 2018, in Pueblo. The farm grows and process hemp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"related left\" \/>\n<p>British imperial desires gave farms a wealthy and consistent consumer for hemp products. Farms near port towns continued to blanket swaths of the East Coast well past independence, Stark said.<\/p>\n<p>There remained an \u201cenormous and insatiable demand for hemp\u201d throughout the country\u2019s first 100 years, Stark said. Eventually, market forces and cheap cotton in the late 1800s pumped the breaks on hemp profitability. By 1937, the federal and state governments had lumped hemp in with the ban on cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>But similarly to how hemp was lumped in with the prohibition of cannabis, it has seen a resurgence as popular opinion turns.\u00a0Despite the added boost\u00a0from the rise of cannabis, the history of the pro-hemp movement has been driven by farmers and entrepreneurs, Stark said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Hemp) could be grown from one end of the country to the other,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>With the latest Farm Bill, hemp advocates see a turning point for the industry. That turning point is personal for Meyer.<\/p>\n<p>Her father was \u201cconsumed\u201d by opioids and died before she started working in hemp. She wishes that she could have tried to help him with the products she now oversees the production of. With her father gone, she carries his memory on through the work she does.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy whole family uses our product,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Like with marijuana, Colorado entrepreneurs have been at the forefront of building up hemp as a viable undertaking. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,531,52,330,6969,6811,1547,6970,55,7618,6813,77,5667,9,5019,1,3,18,7309,61,1736],"tags":[5063,3105,2632,2908,6971,6816,4115,6972,2635,7619,6818,2655,5673,5022,2622,7312],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}