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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.

Cuomo signs NY hemp law; decision on extracts in food, beverages deferred

Published December 9, 2019

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law Monday that sets up a regulatory framework for the production and sale of hemp and hemp extracts in the state. According to a statement from the governor’s office, the new law also requires hemp businesses to test and properly label products to safeguard consumers. The […]

How to stand out in a crowded CBD market: Q&A with branding expert Cindy Blum

Published December 6, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

The CBD marketplace grows more crowded by the day, with manufacturers struggling to gain market share in a sea of CBD products all claiming to be the most effective. That makes branding and marketing essential for even a savvy cannabis entrepreneur hoping to gain traction in a confusing and congested market, where every product starts […]

EXCLUSIVE: Why a major vegetable producer has reason for optimism in its hemp expansion

Published December 3, 2019

Analysts note that Village Farms International has the potential for a multiyear earnings growth story that could be among the best in class in the cannabis industry.

Greed, backstabbing and ‘Frankenstein contracts’ in the hemp landscape: Q&A with cannabis attorney Lisa Pittman

Published December 3, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

Hemp might be legal now, but more and more hemp companies are finding themselves in court. That’s because the booming industry has attracted a mix of new entrepreneurs and get-rich-quick scam artists looking to take advantage of a new market with few established players. Making matters more complicated for hemp businesses is the fact that many […]

USDA, DOJ in talks about real-time hemp certification to ease transport issues

Published December 2, 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is talking about getting real-time hemp information to law enforcement authorities in order to ease interstate hemp shipments. An information-sharing platform with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) could provide “some level of solution” that shipments are legal hemp and not illegal marijuana, according to USDA attorney Mai Dinh. […]

Canadian CBD company seeks to win shelf space with the help of a convenience-store group

Published December 1, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

Why would a CBD company want to try and enter the mainstream retail market through the labyrinth that is convenience stores and gas stations?

Kansas hemp companies in trademark dispute over name

Published November 29, 2019

A hemp processor in Kansas stands accused of trademark violations by a nearby CBD manufacturer with a similar name. The case started in October, when KHC Enterprises, which does business as KC Hemp Co. in Overland Park, Kansas, sued KC Hemp Company in Lenexa, Kansas. The towns where the businesses are located about 5 miles apart. […]

Wisconsin governor signs hemp expansion into law

Published November 26, 2019

Wisconsin has become the first state to adopt hemp expansion after seeing how federal agriculture regulators want to manage the new crop. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill into law directing the state’s agriculture department to mirror production guidelines released in October by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new Wisconsin hemp law: Charges farmers […]

Losses increase for Green Growth Brands amid retail expansion

Published November 26, 2019

Green Growth Brands, an Ohio-based cannabis retailer that owns both marijuana dispensaries and the nation’s largest chain of CBD retail locations in mall kiosks, reported a loss of $30.2 million for the fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30. The company lost $2.8 million in the same period a year ago. Company executives attributed the current losses […]

FDA nominee: CBD shows promise, but many ‘open and unanswered questions’

Published November 25, 2019

The nominee to take charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says he wants to see more research to answer “open and unanswered questions” about CBD. Dr. Stephen Hahn, a cancer specialist from Houston who is awaiting Senate confirmation to lead the FDA, is telling U.S. senators that CBD already has “a pathway […]

Oregon senators push back on USDA’s rules for testing THC in hemp

Published November 22, 2019

The federal plan to test hemp for THC will damage the industry, according to two Oregon senators who are pushing back on rules from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, say the USDA hemp production rules lay out THC testing requirements with “potentially harmful effects” for the new hemp […]

Exclusive webcast: HID’s Nichols breaks down USDA’s new hemp rules

Published November 20, 2019

The new national hemp rules from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are out, and they could bring big changes for your hemp business. Hemp Industry Daily Editor Kristen Nichols sat down Tuesday to field questions about the upcoming changes to the USDA hemp rules. Topics discussed include: THC testing procedures. Why the DEA is […]