The mayor of Federalsburg said Maryland’s legalization of cannabis is forcing her and her husband to close their business and sell their Eastern Shore hemp farm.
Kimberly Abner, her husband Ken, and her brother-in-law have run a small hemp business making gummy and vape products for the last three years. The bill that legalized adult-use recreational cannabis is pushing them out of the market, she said.
“I’m the face of one of the businesses that you just put out of business. I have a Maryland hemp farm,” said Abner, directing her comments to House Economic Matters Chair Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) during a cannabis symposium sponsored by the Maryland Municipal League. “I have a business that sells federally legal hemp products, and my stores are now calling me to take the product back out of their stores because of this bill.”
Abner and her husband originally wanted to enter the state’s medical cannabis industry but were unable to obtain one of the coveted licenses. “Since we didn’t get a license, we went with the hemp products because we could get into that market, and we can legally sell it and legally grow it in the state of Maryland,” said Abner in an interview.
Read more at marylandmatters.org