Original Articles

In 1996, my Rella Good Cheese Co. was still known as “Sharon’s Finest,” the company on the Inc. 500 in 1993. Rella then spawned HempRella and Hempeh Burger in 1994, then The Hemp Corporation, then HempNut, Inc. in 1996. I call it Continuous Improvement as applied to Branding. Web sites were fairly new back then, … Continue reading "1996: Ancient Fun With Websites"...

Here’s a very good analysis of Rep. Nadler’s new version of the MORE Act from the Tax Foundation: Less Should be MORE with Federal Cannabis Taxation. A five-percent excise tax to the Feds is a very small vigorish to pay in exchange for descheduling, legal banking, protection from RICO suits and prosecution, and especially the … Continue reading "Tax Analysis of the MORE Act"...

This is a USMCA (formerly NAFTA) violation. CW has a good case, as does any U.S. CBD company: “Charlotte’s Web Products are not easily available in Canada because laws do not allow for bulk importing of U.S.-grown hemp CBD or related products into Canada, the release said.” Read more at: https://www.dailycamera.com/2021/04/20/canada-approves-3-charlottes-web-hemp-cultivars/...

In the announcement of their ban on Delta-8 THC, MED said: ““chemically modifying or converting any naturally occurring cannabinoids from industrial hemp is non-compliant with the statutory definition of ‘industrial hemp product’” in state laws.” Decarboxylation of CBDa to CBD fits that definition, as does the current practice of converting CBDa to CBN. Plus the … Continue reading "Did Colorado Just Ban CBD?"...

500,000 consumers helped the plant-based food industry push back on the EU’s ban on use of terms such as soy “milk” and vegan “meat.” This is a lesson to the hemp industry, which missed a brilliant opportunity to push back on the ludicrous Novel Food registration requirement for CBD, which has been in food longer … Continue reading "Plant-based Food Industry Wins; Lessons for CBD Companies"...

The future of Hemp is food. That’s not to say fiber doesn’t have a role to play, as where there is seed there is fiber. It’s a symbiotic relationship, a dual crop with two income streams. But food has more of a social imperative than walls of houses or animal bedding. How often do you … Continue reading "Economics of Shelling Hempseed"...

Diamidoximated cellulosic bioadsorbents from hemp stalks for elimination of uranium (VI) and textile waste in aqueous systems AbstractSelective abolition of hazardous U(VI) ions from nuclear power plants and removal of toxic colorants from textile industries pose great challenge. The work aims to develop cellulosic bioadsorbents from waste stalks of local weed, Cannabis sativa, commonly known … Continue reading "Cleaning Water with Hemp Stalks"...

Sequential Sampling of Four Hemp Cultivars for Cannabinoids – 2020 Four cultivars of Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) were planted and grown in a Maury‐Bluegrass siltloam soil at the University of Kentucky North Farm research complex near Lexington, Kentucky. Soil test levels were adequate for P and K. Nitrogen was applied as Urea at 150 lbs. … Continue reading "Sequential Sampling of Four Hemp Cultivars for Cannabinoids – 2020"...

Benchmarking qPCR to Culture: PDA vs DRBC “The State of Michigan is in the process of scrutinizing molecular methods and culture based methods for the detection of Total Yeast and Mold (TYM) on cannabis. They chose to run this study on DiChloro Rose Bengal with Chloramphenicol (DRBC). The chloramphenicol is an antibiotic. This … Continue reading "qPCR Better Than Agar for Microbiolgy Analysis"...

I’ve been advocating for 1% maximum THC for hemp since 2015, just on principle. The current 0.3% is arbitrary and unhelpful, and the originator of it (Dr Ernest Small of Canada) regrets that it became the de-facto standard. It’s great to now see the movement for 1% pick up speed and backers. This issue has … Continue reading "How to Get 1% Max THC for Hemp Without Congress"...

This is from Mr. Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli at FAAAT, which lobbied the U.N. Vote for the past five years, culminating in a landmark decision December 2020. They’ve been working on this relatively quietly for years. “Do you know a lot of people able to push changes in international law, and living under poverty levels? I know … Continue reading "Help Those Who Help Us"...

Have you considered self-certifying your CBD products as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) so you are “legal” at the federal and state level? It would get around the ban on CBD in California and other states, for example. Two of the industry’s largest companies did (CV Sciences and Charlotte’s Web), and so should you. It’s … Continue reading "Self-certify Your CBD as GRAS"...

It is estimated that the global Cannabis market is now about $20 Billion in size. Cannabis and Hemp businesses have many trade associations and lobbyists representing them, and they generally want the opposite of what Consumers need. Regulators and police have a seat at the table, as does the medical side (Big Pharma and doctors), … Continue reading "The $20 Billion Elephant in the Room"...

Being one of the early “virtual companies” starting in the 1980s, I had to figure out a new way to do a business selling products made just for us, after out-sourcing all aspects of business except our core competencies (marketing and product development). One effective tool was to systemize all of the tasks for running … Continue reading "Systemizing Your Operations for Fun and Profit"...

Here is world hempseed acreage, 1961-2019. Largest producers were China, USSR, and France. Source: FAO...

The European Union (and others) are requiring a Novel Food (NF) application for CBD products. To comply, every company must submit an application for what amounts to the exact same thing, for each and every SKU. The whole thing is odd as CBD has been in the human diet long before member nations even existed, … Continue reading "Free Novel Food Application Resources"...

In Italy, patient Walter Benedetto was recently acquitted for growing marijuana in his house solely to treat his crippling rheumatoid arthritis. He has a prescription but the government can’t supply him with enough of the right type, so he grows it with a little help from a friend. It was just the latest in a … Continue reading "Legalization is Inevitable, But Which Flavor?"...

CBD Haterz miss a few essential facts: CBD at night increases expression of CBR1, giving you a bigger THC high the next day CBD reduces psychosis and anxiety, better for when you get super high on THC CBD potentiates positive THC effects while cutting its negative effects, so that THC is better for you Drop … Continue reading "CBD Haterz Miss a Few Essential Facts"...

While the current discussion about hemp plastics is welcome, it is still mostly performative and aspirational because the real work of how to get from here to there is not part of the conversation. Which use of plastics should be targeted? Why? How would hemp be used? What type of hemp product? Who is the … Continue reading "Hemp For Plastic… But Which?"...

First report of Pythium myriotylum causing root rot in Cannabis sativa (L.) in California TL Pitman, RN Philbrook, JG Warren – Plant Disease, 2021 In June of 2020 we observed greenhouse grown Cannabis sativa in Sonoma County, CA and Monterey County, CA showing stress symptoms: stunting, leaf chlorosis, and leaf senescence, when moved to … Continue reading "First report of Pythium myriotylum causing root rot in Cannabis sativa (L.) in California"...

Here are net ex/imports for hemp fiber (tow), 1961-1994. Biggest exporters: Hungary, USSR, China. Biggest importers: UK, Italy, Germany. Source: FAO...

When Cannabis Prohibition 2.0 begun in 1970 with the Controlled Substances Act, it was Scheduled in the most-restrictive category, that of One. Although hemp stalk and nonviable seed had an exemption, that still meant all marijuana and hemp flower products such as CBD, terpenes, flowers, viable hempseed for food, an hempseed oil made from viable … Continue reading "Academics Drove the CBD Explosion"...

In Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, April 2018, Volume 65, Issue 4, pp 1071–1107, by Ernest Small, 13 December 2017 is Dwarf germplasm: the key to giant Cannabis hempseed and cannabinoid crops: Abstract After a century of banishment, both euphoric (“marijuana”) and non-euphoric (“industrial hemp”) classes of Cannabis sativa are attracting billions of dollars of … Continue reading "Dwarf Germplasm: the Key to Giant Cannabis Crops"...

One way to move the millions of pounds of hempseed still sitting in bins from the past few seasons in Canada is by making a 1-kilogram re-sealable brick of a flexible gas-flushed package of HempNut (the original generic name for shelled hempseed, branded by Richard Rose in 1996). Donate it or sell at cost for homeless and … Continue reading "HempNut To The Rescue"...

Every big city in the world will be watching what NYC does with legalization. Taxed and regulated for-profit dispensaries aren’t the only answer; Cannabis is FUN to grow, it’s cheap, and many adults want to do so… and of course they should be allowed. If Ficus and Spider Ferns are allowed in apartments, so should … Continue reading "New Cultivars Needed For Legal Urban Homegrows"...

The world's oldest and largest hemp culture is angling to dominate global hemp production...

DEA doesn’t have much room to mess with Delta-8 THC (D8). After all, Congress knew when it legalized THC in hemp that there was as much as 6 pounds of it per acre, when they expressly allowed it in the Agriculture Improvement Act (2018 Farm Bill). The Farm Bill defined legal hemp as “the plant … Continue reading "Delta-8: Legal + Illicit"...

What’s the legacy of HempRella? This: https://vegconomist-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/vegconomist.com/products-and-launches/breaking-grounded-foods-upcycled-cauliflower-hemp-cheese-finally-arrives/amp/...

“Check out Wendy Love Edge’s interview with Legendary Hemp Food Pioneer, Richard Rose! Who do you have to thank for today’s U.S. Hemp Food Industry? Richard You have Richard to Thank. 💯🔥💚” Click here to watch: https://www.cannatube24.com/view?v=2718579212...

During a summer evening Soft Secrets UK had the pleasure of meeting Richard Rose, an American citizen with a long career in cannabis activism. The following is the report of the pleasant chat we shared on the positives and negatives aspects of cannabis regulation in some American states. Read more at: https://softsecrets.com/gb/2020/12/24/richard-rose/...