Colorado's growing yen for all things hemp is celebrated in Longmont
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Posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Hundreds roamed around the Boulder County Fairgrounds Saturday for the opening of a two-day hemp festival
— an event that is part conference, part education and part of the continued victory celebration for the legalization of marijuana in Colorado several years ago
Many strolled by varying vendor stands, brochures in hand as they checked out CBD-laced products, colorful glass pipes, frisbees, tie-dyed clothing, LED lights and hemp apparel, from purses to hats.
Hempfest, celebrating its second annual Colorado Industrial Hemp Awards and Festival, focuses on education for farmers, Native Americans, hemp entrepreneurs and the public.
The event provides an outlet for sellers and buyers of viable low-THC industrial hemp seed, hemp raw materials and products made out of hemp, according to the event's website.
Though the festival remains a celebration for some, Hempfest is considered an important political event for many attendees, including Teri Leak of Ambary Gardens, who points to her company's products as catalysts in helping people remedy their afflictions.
"We had someone who had a massive tumor on his brain come to us for our products to help with his recovery, after a week or so he was back on his feet and growing his own plants again — it's just amazing," said Leak. "As you can tell I am extremely inspired by what we do, the advancements we've made in this industry are just groundbreaking."
Offering therapeutic-grade high-cannabidiol low-THC tincture available in all 50 states Ambary Garden's product is made with coconut medium-chain triglyceride oil and food grade carbon dioxide hemp extracts, according to the company's website.
"I've been smoking pot since the seventies and have always had the itch to stir up trouble with the authorities denying people the benefits of these great products, said Leak. "So besides how much we can help people with this, it's really an important political issue."
Those also in attendance were vendors demonstrating the technological side of the marijuana and hemp industry, such as Noah Miller of Back Dog LED.
The six-year-old company, one of the oldest LED grow light manufactures in an industry still in its infancy, specializes in the design and manufacturing of high power, high-yield, and full-spectrum LED grow lights, a staple for the personal and professional growth of marijuana.
"The future of the grow industry will be in our form of LED lights," said Miller. "What we provide is more efficient, powerful, and most importantly leaves less of a footprint."
State Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, was honored as the Most Supportive and Progressive State Senator for Hemp, recognizing her support and hard work on SB196, the first pro-cannabis bill to be unanimously passed. The measure solidified access to state approved labs for hemp testing, hemp seed certification and further protections from law enforcement for possession, transportation and cultivation for industrial hemp, according to the event's schedule.
Among those in attendance was Rev. Brandon Baker with Green Faith Ministry, a cannabis sacrament church with state and federal recognition. The church grows, harvests, delivers and consumes cannabis. Since 2009, Green Faith has been registered with the state of Colorado and the IRS.
"I put up a lot of fight for our church for several years. I even sued the state at one point," said Baker. "Then they went and legalized it; guess all that fighting was for nothing."
This year's event was dedicated to Alex White Plume, a Native American from Oglala Lakota tribe from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
White (Plume) became the first modern-day industrial hemp farmer when he planted low-THC hemp on the reservation in 2000, according to the event's news release.
source: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_29600375/colorados-growing-yen-all-things-hemp-celebrated-longmont
By: By Anthony Hahn 3.5.16