EMAIL: kristenn@mjbizdaily.com
PHONE: 720.643.4450

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.

Mississippi rejects hemp farming amendment, but proposals still pending

Published February 5, 2019

Mississippi lawmakers aren’t ready to regulate hemp. A panel in the Mississippi state House turned down an amendment Monday that would have allowed farmers to grow hemp. The proposal came on a bill to update the state’s classifications for drugs such as fentanyl. Separate proposals to allow hemp production in Mississippi are still pending. The […]

Chart: America’s hemp acres hit almost 80,000 in 2018; Montana new leader among states

Published February 4, 2019 | By Maggie Cowee and Kristen Nichols

The U.S. hemp crop tripled in 2018 with acreage rising rapidly in the 24 states actively growing last year, according to advocacy group Vote Hemp, and that figure is expected to grow now that the Farm Bill has opened the door nationwide to hemp production. Total American hemp acreage was at 78,176 acres last year, […]

Virginia’s fledgling CBD program faces criticism, appeals

Published January 30, 2019

Seven companies are challenging a CBD licensing process in Virginia criticized as “wildly prejudicial” and favoring multistate operators. Out of 51 applicants for five vertically integrated CBD and THC-A licenses, multistate operators received three, a situation that spurred the appeals, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Applicants filing the appeals complained the closed-meeting review process lacked fairness and transparency. One […]

Farm Bill thaws – but doesn’t clear – hemp’s advertising landscape

Published January 29, 2019 | By Adrian D. Garcia

Under the historic 2018 Farm Bill, hemp companies should be able to advertise like other agricultural producers and manufacturers. But many businesses say they still face hurdles, especially with digital marketing. A good example is Evo Hemp, a Boulder, Colorado-based hemp food company. “The Farm Bill is opening the doors to have the conversation with […]

Chart: Fast-rising CBD still trying to make inroads with mainstream retailers

Published January 28, 2019 | By Eli McVey and Kristen Nichols

CBD’s meteoric rise in popularity has hemp growers finding all kinds of market opportunities that don’t exist for THC products, including yoga studios, pet boutiques, gyms and coffee shops – all foreign territory for marijuana-derived products. One Kentucky hemp producer even has CBD products being sold in tractor supply stores; a North Carolina CBD company has […]

Federal judge blocks THC test in West Virginia hemp suit, allows CBD extraction

Published January 25, 2019

A federal judge has blocked a government request for a THC test on a batch of West Virginia hemp and said the hemp can be processed for CBD extraction in nearby Pennsylvania. The developments come as federal prosecutors say they’re going to continue pursuing civil charges against the farm, Grassy Run, and its affiliated company, CAMO […]

Farm Bill boost: Kentucky hemp acreage more than doubles for 2019

Published January 24, 2019

Kentucky’s hemp acreage could more than double in 2019, with state agriculture officials attributing increased registrations to the new Farm Bill. The state says it has licensed more than 42,000 acres for 2019 hemp production, up 163% from 2018, when Kentucky licensed 16,000 acres. Only 6,700 acres were planted for hemp last year, the state […]

Pennsylvania lifts hemp production, license caps, citing Farm Bill and federal shutdown

Published January 23, 2019

Pennsylvania’s planned hemp expansion has turned into a surprise lift on hemp production caps, thanks to the recent Farm Bill and ongoing federal shutdown. Russell Redding, Pennsylvania’s agriculture secretary, said the Keystone State is removing requirements that hemp be grown for research purposes, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported. Pennsylvania will also remove 100-acre growing caps […]

Canada marijuana titans flexing into US hemp industry

Published January 23, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

Flush with cash and looking for a toehold in the United States, Canadian marijuana companies are making big investments in hemp. Consider: Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC), an Ontario marijuana producer that snagged an investment for 5 billion Canadian dollars ($3.8 billion) from a New York alcohol company, recently announced it is entering the U.S. hemp market. […]

Federal shutdown snags US hemp industry as farmers, processors await direction

Published January 22, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

American hemp entrepreneurs had to wait only 48 hours after the signing of the watershed 2018 Farm Bill to start experiencing the downside of offering a product regulated by the U.S. government – specifically the budget impasse between President Trump and Congress that led to federal operations shutting down. The budget dispute had no direct […]

FDA Crystal Ball: 5 expert tips on CBD in the newly legal hemp industry

Published January 16, 2019 | By Kristen Nichols

Nationwide legalization brought elation to the hemp industry, but it also brought anxiety as CBD manufacturers and retailers await guidance from federal health regulators on how the extract can be incorporated into foods, drugs and cosmetics. CBD is – by far – the largest component of the U.S. hemp industry, so the concern is widespread. […]

Michigan quietly repeals CBD ban, sets hemp fees

Published January 14, 2019

Michigan is opening its CBD market beyond medical marijuana dispensaries after the governor signed a bill enabling the manufacture and use of hemp-derived CBD, the Detroit Free Press reported. The new law reverses a CBD limit enacted in May 2018 by Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation, […]