Source: mlive.com
Refined and unrefined hemp oil sold by local product line Yellow Emperor can be used as a dietary supplement. Currently, industrial hemp industries import 100 percent of oil used in their product lines due to federal prohibition of domestic hemp farming. With regulation changes, Bluegrass Natural Remedies is seeking to work with domestic farmers to create jobs in the industrial hemp market.
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – Colorado’s liberalized marijuana laws will help the expansion plans of a local company that manufactures and distributes industrial hemp-based food supplements and cosmetics, according to Joe Brown, founder of Michigan Hemp Co.
Brown, who said his company’s products do not contain the psychotropic drug found in marijuana, said Colorado farmers are now being given permission to raise and sell domestic hemp products that his company currently imports from Canadian and Dutch hemp growers.
Brown, who said his company’s products do not contain the psychotropic drug found in marijuana, said Colorado farmers are now being given permission to raise and sell domestic hemp products that his company currently imports from Canadian and Dutch hemp growers.
“We’ll be able to create jobs with a domestic hemp crop,” said Brown, who said his 5-year-old company processes industrial hemp oil with five employees at a facility in Holt. “We’re hoping to go to 50 people in the next 24 months.”
The company, which also goes by the name, North American Hemp Company and Canna Products USA, sells its products under several brand names, including Tommy Chong, Yellow Emperor and Bluegrass Natural Remedies.
Chong, best known for his role in Cheech and Chong, a comedy team that epitomized the 1970s drug culture, is working with them to produce hemp products under his name and will endorse their products, according to a news release issued by Canna Products USA.
All of their products are made with industrial hemp oil that does not contain THC, the active ingredient that gets marijuana users high, Brown said. The oil is tested by customs officials before it enters the U.S. to ensure it is free of psychotropic drugs, he said.
As a born-again Christian “since birth,” Brown said he’s not interested in getting his customers high or getting into the medical marijuana business, where “compassionate care” providers are running afoul of the law.
“We wouldn’t even touch it,” said Brown, who distributes his products locally from Home Grown Hydroponix, a store at 5333 Plainfield Avenue NE that serves hydroponic gardeners and growers, many of whom grow medical marijuana.
His business partner, Adam Benge, the CEO of Bluegreen Natural Remedies, said he worked for five Michigan beer distributors before deciding to leave the alcohol business for something less harmful to his health. Brown said he cannot disclose how much they pay to have hemp oil shipped into the United States.
“We could buy a nice house (for the cost of) a shipment,” said Brown, who said he started the company to address his own personal health needs.
With a domestic source of hemp oil, his company will be able to produce more of its products and lower its prices, said Brown.
The company’s most popular product, the E-mist vapor oil, is inhaled like an electronic cigarette. An E-Mist kit sells for $90. A hemp oil infused brownie or a tablet sells for $10 each. The company also sells 8-ounce bags of “Java Joe’s Hemp Coffee” for $20.
Although they cannot make medical claims, Brown said he takes their supplements as an anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety remedy.
Founded in 2009, Canna Products USA claims to be the first Michigan company since 1937 to legally manufacture industrial hemp products. Prior to entering the hemp business, Brown said he was a project manager in the construction industry for 20 years.
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