By Michael Hooper
A multimillion-dollar cannabidiol market has emerged in Kansas. A dozen stores selling CDB quickly opened in Lawrence and Topeka after CBD sales was approved on May 14, 2018. Insiders of this market say business is booming with sale of CBD products such as tinctures of oil and vapes. Some stores are generating $20,000 in sales of CBD oil per month in northeast Kansas. Retailers are selling CBD oil made with hemp from California, Oregon, Colorado and Kentucky. The quick response shows just how hungry consumers are for CBD in Kansas.
CBD oil is generated from hemp, the cannabis sativa plant that has virtually no THC.
Most of the hemp fiber is imported in Kansas and most of the CBD is domestic. Kansas has ideal growing conditions for hemp.
There is a lot of red tape for Kansas farmers to raise hemp through a research bill that passed in 2018, said Chris Brunin, CEO of Quiet Trees, a wholesaler of CBD products in Lawrence, Kan. The regulations for operating under the new hemp law are expected to be published by year's end.
Brunin said he wants to collaborate and consult with Kansas farmers who would like to grow hemp.
"With the climate, soil, and ingenuity of farmers, hemp could have a very bright future in Kansas," he said.
About 25 people gathered Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, in a room at the Jayhawk Theatre to talk about hemp in Kansas and the world.
Kansas has an opportunity to be a part of this hemp industry, said Rick Trojan, a lobbyist for the hemp industry. Trojan grows hemp in Colorado. He showed a movie of his Hemp Road Trip.
Industrial Hemp production was an important crop in Kansas in the late 1800s early 1900s. In 1863, Kansas led the nation in hemp bushels per acre. However, the hemp industry got wiped out with the passage of laws against marijuana, even though hemp has virtually no THC and cannot get you high.
Hemp can be manufactured into clothing, construction products, automobile and airline parts, health care products, food and energy. Depending on the strain of hemp, the plant can have 8% to 22% CBD, with virtually no THC, said Chris Brunin.
Brunin said it's difficult to tell how big the CBD Market will be in Kansas but it is quickly becoming a multimillion-dollar industry. There are dozens of places in Kansas already selling thousands of dollars worth of CBD oil per month.
Quiet Trees offers products through its website and wholesales product to retailers in Lawrence and elsewhere. CBD oil is sold in popular shops like Third Planet and Sacred Leaf in Lawrence. In Topeka, CBD American Shaman, CBD Healing Co are among the retailers of CBD.
CBD can be used to treat anxiety, epilepsy, pain and cancer side effects.
Industrial Hemp sales in the United States last year was about $820 million, according to Hemp Business Journal estimates.
Based on what he's seen so far in Kansas, Brunin estimated that the Hemp Market in Kansas is already worth $10 million in annual sales, but the sad part is the hemp is imported. Kansas farmers could easily grow hemp if regulations are not intrusive and expensive, said Brunin. He said there was a proposal to adopt a Kentucky-modeled piece of legislation for hemp in Kansas, but was not successful. The legislation adopted here has an application that is expected to be lengthy and intrusive, Brunin said.
I believe legislators need to create a free market in order for the hemp market to develop and prosper. With any new industry it is best to let the free market run.
Kentucky has been growing hemp since 1774. After many years of prohibition, Hemp was legalized for production with the stipulation hemp could not have more than 0.3% THC. The first 500-acre commercial crop was planted in Harrison County, Kentucky, in 2017, and research permits were issued for over 12,000 acres that year
Quiet Trees in Lawrence is a small operation yet it is growing quite rapidly selling CBD products including bottles of oil, vapes and tea. Last month the company did about $20,000 in wholesales. Brunin said sales have been growing 10% to 20% month-over-month since startup.
"This is exciting for me," Brunin said. "We've developed this product in house, it's really awesome, it looks very promising."
Even though drug enforcement agencies tried to eradicate hemp in Kansas, somehow the weed survived. It's resilient, the plant wants to be a part of the Kansas ecosystem, and Kansas could use it.
Even though drug enforcement agencies tried to eradicate hemp in Kansas, somehow the weed survived. It's resilient, the plant wants to be a part of the Kansas ecosystem, and Kansas could use it.
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