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Kristen Nichols

Kristen is a Denver-based reporter for Marijuana Business Daily specializing in the hemp and CBD industries. Previously, she worked at the Associated Press for nearly 20 years. She started covering the marijuana legalization movement in 2009 – when medical stores started popping up around Denver – and wrote about the state’s first legal hemp harvest. Kristen also covered agriculture and politics in Maryland and her home state of Georgia.

USDA, hemp food producers assure public on coronavirus transmission fears

Published March 18, 2020

Companies making hemp-derived foodstuffs are joining federal authorities to remind folks that hemp foods are being inspected as usual and are safe to eat through the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent an alert this week that no staffing changes are planned at the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, or its Animal and […]

Texas opens applications for 2020 hemp production

Published March 16, 2020

Texas has opened applications to grow and process hemp in the nation’s second-largest state. But state agriculture agronomists are warning that Texans shouldn’t look to wetter states like Kentucky and Oregon to predict production. The applications opened Monday and come with $100 application fees $100 licensing fees $300 sampling and testing fees A recent report […]

Charlotte’s Web cites need for better hemp research in launch of new division

Published March 16, 2020

Saying the hemp industry needs better research into cannabinoid safety and efficacy, Colorado CBD maker Charlotte’s Web has launched a new research division and tapped a former health diagnostics executive to lead it. Tim Orr is leading a new division called Charlotte’s Web Labs, a team of about a dozen that will expand the company’s research efforts […]

Another Kentucky hemp company files for bankruptcy

Published March 13, 2020

Another Kentucky hemp producer is seeking bankruptcy protection. Atalo Holdings cited “confounding guidance” from regulators and “unforeseen market forces” in announcing the Chapter 7 filing late Friday. Atalo chairman Andrew Graves said in a statement that the company hopes to continue operating while bankruptcy proceeds. Graves called his company “an attractive opportunity for a timely new […]

California firm cuts $25M revenue projection on hemp-trading platform

Published March 13, 2020

California-based KushCo Holdings, a cannabis company specializing in ancillary products such as packaging, is ratcheting back its hemp revenue predictions. The company told investors Friday that it’s retracting its 2020 hemp revenue guidance of $25 million. The announcement came as the firm announced it will miss this quarter’s revenue estimates. The company cited a “slower-than-anticipated rollout […]

Georgia hemp plan wins USDA approval even as budget talks continue

Published March 13, 2020

Georgia has federal approval to oversee hemp production in 2020 and is planning to start taking applications later this month. But the state has yet to settle how it plans to pay for its hemp program. Georgia’s hemp plan cleared the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week, an approval states need in order to have […]

Germany, hemp advocates clash over policy on CBD in food

Published March 13, 2020 | By Monica Raymunt and Alfredo Pascual

Hemp advocates and food-safety regulators in Germany are at loggerheads over whether all forms of cannabinoids require additional scrutiny before they can be sold in foods and drinks. The dispute came to a head last week when the European Industrial Hemp Association released a statement that the German government agrees that foods containing hemp-derived CBD aren’t […]

California hemp, CBD impasse continues as manufacturers await clarity

Published March 12, 2020 | By Kristen Nichols

California hemp and CBD producers were hoping for speedy action this year on a long-debated proposal to clear a path for hemp extracts in foods and drinks.

Idaho herbalist takes down coronavirus mention on website that sells CBD

Published March 10, 2020

An herbalist in Idaho who mostly sells CBD products has taken down a mention of coronavirus from her e-commerce site after a warning from federal regulators. Amy Weidner, owner of Herbal Amy in Nampa, Idaho, made no mention of coronavirus in relation to any of her CBD products. But she included a listing from another […]

Limit your exposure: How liability insurance can protect CBD manufacturers

Published March 10, 2020 | By Adrian D. Garcia

CBD manufacturers risk paying thousands of dollars in legal expenses if they lack liability insurance.

CBD chew partnership ends in multiple lawsuits

Published March 9, 2020

A Nevada hemp and marijuana producer has filed three lawsuits against a California cannabis chew maker over a disappointing 2018 partnership to make CBD- and THC-infused chewing pouches. The Nevada company, Solace Holdings, said Cannadips defaulted on loans worth $1.2 million through 2018 and 2019, money Solace says it paid to get the rights to distribute Cannadips […]

Coronavirus thwarts plans for SXSW, two more cannabis events

Published March 6, 2020

Three more cannabis-related conferences have been canceled or postponed, including this month’s massive South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas, because of the coronavirus outbreak.