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.

Farm Bill compromise allows nationwide hemp production for any use – including CBD

Published December 11, 2018 | By Kristen Nichols

A long-awaited end to five decades of hemp prohibition has been approved by a House-Senate panel, opening the door to hemp production in all 50 states for any use – including CBD.

New York state bans CBD foods, vape products

Published December 10, 2018 | By Kristen Nichols

New York state is banning CBD vape and food manufacturing and asking 2019 hemp licensees to sign a waiver acknowledging the “inherent risk” of making a dietary supplement considered off-limits by federal health authorities. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets also will require hemp-derived CBD supplements to go through the same testing as […]

Texas looks to join national hemp boom

Published December 7, 2018

Texas should join the hemp craze, according to the top agriculture official in the largest state not to allow cultivation of the plant. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is calling on the U.S. Congress to lift limitations on hemp farming, The Dallas Morning News reports. “This is all about taking the shackles off the American […]

Report: Felons already growing hemp can continue under Farm Bill compromise

Published December 6, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

While a reported compromise on the 2018 Farm Bill has not been officially released, details are starting to leak about felon participation in the industry. A hemp-legalization measure poised for final action in Congress this month would set up a two-tier system for drug felons, McClatchy’s Washington bureau reported. Felons already growing hemp in states […]

Montana hemp grower pursues reverse takeover in bid to go public in Canada

Published December 4, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

A Montana hemp producer plans to go public in Canada via a reverse takeover, becoming the latest U.S. cannabis business to get its shares listed north of the border through an RTO. Vitality CBD Natural Health Products, a privately held company in Eureka, Montana, is seeking to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange after taking over […]

CBD beverage maker eyes global expansion via $85M purchase of Utah company

Published December 4, 2018

A Denver company that makes CBD drinks has agreed to acquire a Utah beverage company to increase its distribution might, especially in Asia. New Age Beverages Corp. (Nasdaq: NBEV) announced that it will acquire privately held Morinda Holdings of Provo, Utah, for $85 million. Here’s what you need to know: New Age will pay $75 million […]

New Mexico finalizes hemp rules in time for 2019 crop

Published December 3, 2018

New Mexico authorities have finalized hemp rules in time for farmers to produce the state’s first legal harvest in 2019. The regulations proposed by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture were approved late last week. New Mexico will set different hemp fees for outdoor grows versus indoor or greenhouse grows. Prospective hemp producers will have […]

Iowa opens medical CBD sales Saturday under cloud of confusion

Published November 30, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

Iowa’s first licensed medical cannabis producer is walking a fine line as his state opens CBD sales Saturday. On one hand, Iowa has gone to great lengths to say that it will allow only cannabidiol products, not THC goods. On the other hand, MedPharm Iowa is growing cannabis that federal law would consider marijuana, not […]

Cannabis-waste recycler wins Colorado grant to develop aftermarket hemp products

Published November 29, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

A cannabis-waste startup has been selected to receive a $250,000 grant from Colorado to find aftermarket uses for hemp and marijuana waste. 9Fiber of Silver Spring, Maryland, plans to process waste hemp and marijuana stalks for industrial purposes such as bioplastics, construction materials and animal bedding. The company expects to start operations in Pueblo, Colorado, in […]

Kentucky tobacco company buys stake in hemp manufacturer

Published November 29, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

Citing increased CBD sales, a Kentucky tobacco company is getting into CBD manufacturing. Turning Point Brands said it is buying an ownership stake in Canadian American Standard Hemp (CASH), a privately held company in Warwick, Rhode Island. CASH, a hemp-derived cannabinoid producer, manufactures white-label CBD tinctures, topicals, capsules and vape products. Turning Point’s move into […]

North Dakota court asked to ignore CBD’s legal status as retailer appeals drug conviction

Published November 26, 2018 | By Hemp Industry Daily staff

A tobacco-shop owner appealing his drug conviction said the products he sold were perfectly legal, but prosecutors want North Dakota’s highest court to leave that question to a jury. The North Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments this week in the case of Falesteni A. Abu Hamda, who was charged in 2017 with seven drug crimes after […]

New Jersey authorizes hemp but gives no timetable and few details

Published November 26, 2018

In a new state statute authorizing hemp production, New Jersey has directed agriculture authorities to promote the plant “to the maximum extent permitted by federal law.”

But the Garden State provided few details on what that means.