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Four years after the state started issuing licenses to industrial hemp growers, North Carolina’s pilot program wraps up this year. During that time, the industry ballooned in the state. But what’s next for the emerging crop?
NC HEMP FARM
harvesting HEMP BY JOHANNA CANO PHOTOS BY ARIS HARDING & TERAH WILSON
W
hen Jason Simmons lost his job as a firefighter due to asthma, he was left unable to provide for his family and experiencing chronic pain, inflammation and anxiety.
His wife, Audria, sought to find answers for her family’s health. She began researching CBD, a type of cannabinoid that can be extracted from both the hemp and marijuana plant (two different names for the cannabis plant) that is promoted to help relieve pain, depression, anxiety and several other conditions. “He was very sick and could not get out of bed,” Audria Simmons said. “We used some CBD for his anxiety and panic attacks (from) not knowing how to provide for his family, and it
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was working.” At the same time, due to her growing knowledge of CBD, she was approached to work at a CBD dispensary that opened in Southeastern North Carolina where she was able to talk to companies, learn what was in the products and what it took for the product to work, she said. In 2017, and with $60, she started Bethesda Hemp from her home in Burgaw where she cold-presses hemp to make CBD oil. FA L L 2021
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