Representing industries ranging from retail and fitness to tech and biosciences, these creative, visionary trendsetters and entrepreneurs keep the Old Dominion new and relevant.

“Where the Pentagon sits today was once a large hemp field, grown for the USDA. Hemp is in our blood, it’s in our history.”

— Jason Amatucci, founder, Virginia Hemp Coalition

There was a day’s worth of cannabis growing classes, live music, food trucks, dozens of hemp industry and CBD vendors, artisans, demonstrations, seeds, samples and many advocates for marijuana Virginians are now legally permitted to grow—up to four plants per household.

RICHMOND, Va. -- As of July 1, Virginia is the first Southern state, 17th overall, to be painted green with the legalization of recreational marijuana – shaving three years off lawmakers original plans to permit it.

Tanner Johnson, CEO of Pure Shenandoah LLC, says that his Elkton-based company is trying to bring hemp back to its Shenandoah Valley roots.

Cannabis may not be legal in Virginia, but hemp is, and a local business is making big profits off of it.

Not quite the get-high delta-9 THC, and currently occupying a more-or-less legal position, desperate hemp farmers looking to unload their stores of overproduced hemp are finding a new market.

Barbara Biddle is owner and founder of District Hemp Botanicals LLC, a retailer of hemp-based products with locations in D.C., Manassas and Leesburg.

Pure Shenandoah, previously known as Shenandoah Valley Hemp, has been holding workshops to spread the word about the hemp industry in the Valley.

To the objective observer Virginia seems to be moving very quickly with Cannabis policy reform. We would like to present four Virginian’s stories without which we would not be where we are now.

A Virginia importer of pre-packaged hemp animal bedding said he got a nasty shock Feb. 10 2021, when he found out multiple accounts at his bank had been closed with no warning or explanation.

A $3.3 million investment will bring a new industrial hemp facility to Elkton, creating 24 new jobs.

If you’re anxious about trying CBD for anxiety, you’ve got reasons to chill. One, there’s now sky-high piles of evidence that the stuff works. Two, the governor’s on your side.

2020 has been a stressful year to say the least. As those wanting to relieve stress or anxiety look for alternatives to alcohol or binge eating, more people have tried CBD.

The new collection consists of six unique hemp products, including CBD tinctures, gummies and softgels, all developed and curated by Martha Stewart herself in partnership with Canopy Growth Corporation.

Glenn Rodes of Riverhill Farms in Port Republic was one of the first people to get permission to grow hemp and partnered with JMU research. He's optimistic about the industry's future during a tough time.

Previously, the vet recommended Trazodone, a prescription sedative, to treat Bailey’s nervous shedding and shaking. But the side effects made her owner uncomfortable.

Jason Amatucci, founder of the Virginia Industrial Hemp Coalition, predicted to Reason that the farm bill would "help to clarify any legal gray areas that federal and state agencies have towards hemp and their end consumer products." A year later, the hemp industry is withering on the vine for want of clarity.

The rapid growth of commercial hemp production in Southwest Virginia is attracting entrepreneurs to support the nascent industry, but market bottlenecks and uncertainty about state and federal regulations could slow its development.

Hemp farming exploded after the 2018 Farm Bill passed last December. The bill decriminalized the plant at the federal level, opening the door for many U.S. farmers to grow and sell hemp.