Page 2 - Cannabis News Florida July 2022

AROUND THE REGION
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Back Cover Story: Is the Hemp Industry Dying?

Continued from back cover with different political parties in office, I have always stated that there are people slowly the industry will mature into the
seeing the new players making the same the uncertainty will return, and lobbyists who want to get high and there are peo- multi-billion-dollar industry everyone
mistakes is now looked at as ignorant. and powerful consultants will push for ple who want to get well. First respon- predicted.
I work in Florida; our trade associa- more. ders, truck drivers, pilots and the mili- Scaling a company is expensive and
tion has shrunk in the last year and is I wouldn’t call the current environ- tary are all getting tobacco and opioids finding investors that you can trust with
only recently starting to rebound. ment phoenix-like, the industry never pushed on them because even the small- your vision is not always easy. There are
Nationally, the Hemp Roundtable, burned to ashes. But I do see a bit of a est sampling of THC and they will be plenty of products and plenty of oppor-
National Hemp Association, National rebirth in the industry. Education is still fired. tunity left in the industry. The rush to
Industrial Hemp Council and Hemp necessary, and we still have to explain Those pioneers who started this indus- get state licenses for medical marijuana
Industries Association are all fighting for the difference between marijuana and try are getting tired and the new busi- has not proven to be the boon that every-
power, and many are trying to separate hemp way too often. Cannabis has not nesses that are coming in have to contin- one believed - verticality is not all it’s
the plant into flower and fiber. There replaced those two words yet, but I hope ue to educate. Whether for building cracked up to be. Hemp has shown that
will come a time when one or two it does someday. products or consumption or clothing or horizontal development can work better
remain and the industry will do just fine. The fear of THC is the real obstacle to cars, the industry will have to overcome if properly regulated. Now we just have
The egos and power that are accumulat- overcome. It takes a decent amount of systemic legacy barriers. Those barriers to get past the pandemic and show the
ed at each organization certainly have THC to get psychotropically affected, were built to keep out competition and real promise that this plant offers.
the staying power but at some point, the products with less than 0.3% THC will they take time to overcome.
war will be over, and the industry will become more widely accepted eventual- Building products are getting their cer- Jeff Greene, Founder and Business
adapt. ly. Drug tests are currently set to report tifications, research is starting regarding Development Director, The Florida Hemp
As long as the Farm bill gets updated any more than 50 nanograms of THC as the cannabinoids, entrepreneurs are try- Council, can be reached at
every five years or so, there will always a positive test. This is believed to be too ing out hemp as a battery, fiberglass, Jeff.Greene@TheFLHC.org or
be something of a fight. As long as state low and caused many hemp users to be steel, fiber, paper and drug replacement. (954) 304-0791 or visit
hemp programs are subject to change lumped into the current violation range. Other uses will come to market and https://calendly.com/jeff

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