Kim Howard has spent the past six years trying to keep her cannabis cosmetics company alive in California's legal marijuana market, selling her cannabis-infused eye creams and skin serums at dispensaries across the state. But late last year, she finally gave up. She returned her state marijuana license and pulled her Green Bee Botanicals products from the state's dispensaries.
Yet, in an ironic twist, she's never been more optimistic about her company's future. She thinks quitting the recreational market could be the best thing that's ever happened to Green Bee Botanicals.
That's because she's joined a wave of California entrepreneurs who have pivoted to the hemp industry, turning their backs on California's embattled marijuana market in favor of the federally legal version of cannabis called hemp. Howard said pivoting to hemp has meant lower taxes, cheaper regulations and the ability to sell in 30 states across the country instead of just in California.
"Rather than the thorny obstacles we've had to crawl through [in California's marijuana industry], it's like being in a regular market," Howard told SFGATE. "Now we're going to be able to have an e-commerce site online and sell to every state that allows CBD."
Read more at sfgate.com