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.


Oregon manufacturer sells partial ownership stake to expand CBD offerings

An Oregon CBD beverage maker has sold a partial ownership stake for $1.6 million to expand production and distribution. Ablis of Bend, Oregon, makes nonalcoholic beverages that contain 25 milligrams of CBD. The products are distributed in health and wellness retailers in 10 states. Acquired Sales Corp. of Lake Forest, Illinois, is spending $1.6 million […]

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Utah adds label requirement for CBD products to combat synthetics

Utah will require CBD products to carry labels certifying they were produced legally, a move to eliminate synthetic products and treatments that contain too much THC. The new labeling requirement takes effect in January, Salt Lake City TV station KUTV reported. The state joins Indiana and Oregon, which have previously implemented similar label requirements. The Utah Department […]

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Vermont CBD company snags $7 million, plans to move manufacturing plant

A CBD manufacturer in Vermont is changing its name and plans to double its hemp acreage to 100 acres next year after selling a $7 million stake to a North Carolina venture capital firm. Hardwick, Vermont-based Green Mountain CBD will change its name to SunSoil CBD in 2019, VTDigger reported. The company sold a minority […]

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No extraction required: Smokable hemp trend gives farmers new use for flower

One of the fastest-growing hemp sectors bears a striking resemblance to the marijuana industry: dried and smokable hemp flowers. The growth of hemp pre-rolls and loose flower has roots in Europe, where cannabis enthusiasts have long embraced smoking low-THC cannabis, but its rise in the U.S. is catching longtime hemp industry watchers by surprise. Bethany […]

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Colorado vote poses risks, opportunities for hemp farmers

Colorado’s recent vote to move part of the hemp definition out of the state constitution has some entrepreneurs cheering, while others warn it could lead to federal meddling in the nation’s largest hemp market. Amendment X left the overall definition of hemp in Colorado’s constitution but removed the THC limit of 0.3%. The change allows […]

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McConnell issues Farm Bill ‘guarantee’ that hemp will make final version

Hemp expansion in the next Farm Bill is a “guarantee,” according to the U.S. Senate’s majority leader. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell said he’s not sure when Congress will finalize a Farm Bill to get to the president’s desk, but he’s certain hemp will be part of that compromise. “It will be in there, I guarantee […]

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Sales begin for first FDA-approved CBD drug

Sales are underway for the first CBD drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug, Epidiolex, treats two rare types of epilepsy and is made from marijuana plants grown in the United Kingdom. The maker of the medication, GW Pharmaceuticals, has said the tincture would cost about $32,500 a year. U.S. insurance […]

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Hemp ‘entourage’ trademark dispute widens as companies jostle over use of term

A long-simmering trademark dispute over the word “entourage” got wider this week, with one company asking others in the hemp industry to share how they use the term. Full Spectrum Nutrition, a CBD manufacturer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is calling for other businesses to help it challenge a 2016 trademark on the phrase “entourage hemp.” […]

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Oregon hempseed dispute leads to $21 million lawsuit

A batch of hempseeds in Oregon billed as CBD-rich females that turned out to be neither feminized nor high in the cannabinoid has led to a $21.2 million lawsuit. That’s how much six people say they lost after the seeds resulted in inferior plants, leading to the lawsuit against three seed dealers in a southern Oregon […]

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