Tag: HIA

  • Hemp Association Appoints 2 to Board of Directors

    Hemp Association Appoints 2 to Board of Directors

    The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) today announced that Jennifer Knaack, senior director of compliance and science for Koi CBD, and La Vonne Peck, co-Founder of Native Network Consulting, have been appointed to the HIA Board of Directors through 2022.

    Credit: Mex Chriss

    The vacancy appointments were made strategically to advance two of the HIA’s top hemp industry priorities: Elevating standards and sustainable development, according to a press release. “We are really lucky as an industry to have leaders willing to contribute their time and efforts to making it better,” said HIA’s president Mike Lewis. “La Vonne’s background helping indigenous groups to approach this plant as a socio-economic opportunity for their communities is going to be invaluable to our efforts to help farmers get the most value out of hemp. And Jan Knaack’s scientific expertise and focus on elevating standards are exactly what is most needed in the cannabinoids discussion we are having as an industry right now.”

    Peck has more than 20 years of experience supporting the economic development of native communities, and has assisted 65 tribes with cannabis planning, according to the release. “I hope having an indigenous citizen on the Board will open avenues in the future for our Tribal communities,” said Peck, who is the former Chairwoman of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians in Southern California, and a current member of the California Cannabis Advisory Committee. “We have a Board with years of experience, and I look forward to working with them,” said La Vonne, whose company Native Networks Consulting has been a member of the HIA since 2016.

    Knaack earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Southern California and will occupy the seat designated for a cannabinoids expert on the Board and act as Chairperson of the HIA’s Cannabinoids Council, an ad hoc members group focused on elevating industry standards and scientific regulations that prioritize consumer safety. She has more than 15 years of experience in analytical chemistry including serving as a laboratory director and consultant for multiple cannabis testing laboratories.

    “The HIA has made such a great impact on this industry. I’m excited to join the other members of the Board and, through the Cannabinoids Council, to continue advocating for the development of hemp products from a scientific perspective —one that extends through extraction and testing of final products, and that includes safety and mechanisms of action.” Jen heads compliance and science for Koi CBD, a leading national producer and distributor of hemp extract products that is committed to the highest standards of scientific accuracy, consumer education, and safety.

    The Hemp Industries Association Board of Directors, currently at 11 members, is the governing body for the association and has seen service by numerous prominent hemp industry and activist leaders over its nearly 30-year history. Nominations for HIA’s 2021 Board Elections are underway now, with a slate of candidates to fill four upcoming vacancies to be announced in September. Business and farming members with at least two consecutive years of membership are eligible to stand as candidates.

  • Hemp Industry Group Supports Legality of Delta-8

    Hemp Industry Group Supports Legality of Delta-8

    The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) announced support for the legal position that Delta-8 THC, along with all other hemp-derived cannabinoids, were federally legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill. The group cites a legal opinion drafted by attorneys Rod Kight and Philip Snow of Kight Law.

    Man smoking marijuana joint
    Credit: Elsa Olofsson

    “It is clear that the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Registry, directed that hemp be regulated as an agricultural product, and defined hemp to include its cannabinoids and all tetrahydrocannabinols from hemp, is the governing law for the hemp industry,” the HIA states in a release. “History has shown that natural cannabinoid consumption does not present public health and safety risks like those from alcohol and tobacco, but researchers have only begun to explore the full range of potential hemp-extracted compounds and their various properties. What is needed is a regulatory framework for their production that prioritizes consumer safety while being grounded in science.”

    The HIA states that prohibition is a failed concept. It only exacerbates the threat to consumers created by unregulated markets, and is antithetical to the spirit of free enterprise. The HIA wants state lawmakers to eschew ineffective bans in favor of partnering with the hemp industry to craft hemp policy that safely opens markets, fosters innovation, spurs investment, and creates valuable jobs.

    The HIA calls on industry leaders to build consumer confidence and expand the market for hemp cannabinoids by adopting the highest quality and potency testing standards for Delta-8 THC and similar minor cannabinoids, by marketing those products responsibly through use of transparent and detailed labeling, including potency data and warnings against consumption by minors.

    “Businesses, farmers, and consumers all deserve regulations that support the exploration of the hemp plant’s full potential. This isn’t just about one minor cannabinoid —the list is over a hundred already and growing,” said Jody McGinness, HIA’s Executive Director “Fortunately, the industry has all the expertise legislators could need, and those manufacturing leaders and scientists are engaged and ready to help create productive policy solutions.”

    The HIA’s Cannabinoids Council, a newly-formed member body focused on national priorities distinct to the cannabinoids sector of the hemp industry, has identified safe market expansion as a core focus for its early efforts. The stance on Delta-8 THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids is in line with the HIA’s history of vigorously defending the legality of all hemp products, and supporting the growth of industries utilizing all parts of the hemp plant, according to the release.

    The group, a trade association composed primarily of businesses and farms in the hemp industry, is currently engaged in two lawsuits in response to the DEA’s Interim Final Rule on the 2018 Farm Bill that was issued in August of 2020, creating a threat to extractors and manufacturers of hemp cannabinoids. This is the fourth time the association has gone to court to protect hemp since forming in 1994.