While the debut of medical marijuana sales in Arkansas has been grabbing the headlines, a separate cannabis-related industry has been taking root in the state, quite literally.
New Age Hemp LLC of Hot Springs is taking the lead in agricultural hemp processing in the wake of state legislation in 2017 to allow lawful farming of hemp, which like marijuana is a cannabis plant but largely free of THC, the intoxicating chemical compound.
On April 10, New Age Hemp became the first Arkansas company to refine cannabidiol oil in its purest form, known as CBD crystalline or CBD isolate. The 2018 federal farm bill removed CBD from its list of illegal Schedule 1 drugs.
The company has helped at least one farmer with seeds for a 2019 hemp crop, and it has letters of intent with 10 other farmers planning to start growing soon, according to spokesman Bailey Moll of JPJ Consulting in Little Rock.
New Age is one of eight state license-holders for processing and handling hemp, and one of 18 to hold a license for dealing in seeds. So far, 23 farmers in Arkansas are licensed to grow hemp. While hemp is now legal at both the state and federal levels, medical marijuana products remain illegal under federal law.
New Age has also been supplying research to the Arkansas State Plant Board, working to help Arkansas farmers find new markets and identify the proper seeds for specific climates and soils.
“We are honored to receive the trust of the state of Arkansas to assist in researching and building the hemp industry,” company COO Jesse Trammel told Whispers. “Market research has shown that there is a strong demand for CBD products. New Age Hemp is excited to be the first here in the Natural State to offer locally refined CBD oil products to ensure quality standards for CBD in Arkansas.”
Moll described New Age as a business-to-business enterprise, not a retail seller. The company is owned by CEO Nick Landers, a pharmacist; Trammel; Lejen Lotspeich, chief scientific officer; and Carla McCord, chief financial officer.
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