A federal agency has announced the recipients of an award honoring companies that successfully support military veterans\u2014including a cannabis business that utilizes hemp for building material.<\/p>\n
In a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Veterans\u2019 Employment and Training Service (VETS) said it is recognizing a \u201cselect group of veteran-ready employers for excellence in recruiting, employing, and retaining America\u2019s veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the HIRE Vets Medallion Award Recipients is a company called Mr. Hemp House. The business specializes in \u201ccarbon-negative, bio-based material\u201d that leverages hemp to \u201cdeliver superior insulation, fire resistance, moisture control, mold prevention and more,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n
The company markets hemp-based concrete, which is broadly considered to be an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional building materials.<\/p>\n
VETS included<\/a> Mr. Hemp House as one of its 2024 awardees<\/a>, which means it will be given a \u201ccertificate along with a digital image of the medallion for their use, including as part of an advertisement, solicitation, business activity, or product.\u201d<\/p>\n While marijuana remains federally illegal, various federal agencies have embraced its non-intoxicating cannabis cousin, hemp.<\/p>\n For example, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded $8.4 million to a hemp business<\/a> working to provide sustainable cannabis-based alternatives for building materials, packaging and automobile parts.<\/p>\n DOE in 2021 sponsored another project with the company, Hempitecture, to develop hemp fiber insulation designed to be better for the environment<\/a>\u00a0and public health than insulation products.<\/p>\n In 2022, DOE separately awarded Texas A&M University\u00a0$3.47 million to support a project to 3D print hempcrete products<\/a>, with a focus on creating affordable housing.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as another part of the government\u2019s effort to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly building materials, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July\u00a0awarded a nearly $6.2 million grant to a different nonprofit that works with hempcrete<\/a>, the concrete-like material that\u2019s made with hemp.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Volkswagen announced that it was teaming up with a German hemp company to\u00a0produce a cannabis-based leather alternative for its vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2022, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report on the hemp industry boom in Europe<\/a>, recognizing that the cannabis crop is an increasingly important economic commodity that could also help the region achieve bold climate-related goals.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as the nation\u2019s hemp industry continues to mature, USDA is making what it calls \u201cimprovements\u201d to a federal hemp crop insurance program<\/a>. The changes, which take effect next year, ease certain crop-rotation requirements and remove smoke damage as a cause of covered loss.<\/p>\n USDA has been working to bolster the hemp industry, including by\u00a0appointing a number of industry stakeholders<\/a>\u00a0this summer to a federal trade advisory committee meant to support efforts to promote U.S.-grown cannabis around the world.<\/p>\n The department also recently announced it is delaying enforcement of a rule requiring hemp growers to test their crops exclusively at labs registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)<\/a>, citing \u201csetbacks\u201d at the agency that have led to \u201cinadequate\u201d access to such facilities.<\/p>\n This is\u00a0the third year in a row that USDA has delayed enforcement of the lab testing policy for hemp<\/a>\u00a0required under the 2018 Farm Bill that federally legalized the crop.<\/p>\n USDA also\u00a0awarded $745,000 to the National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) to support efforts to promote the industry<\/a>\u00a0internationally in emerging markets across the world. In 2020,\u00a0USDA awarded NIHC $200,000 as part of a different grant program<\/a>.<\/p>\n The latest grant round was distributed during a precarious time for the hemp industry. While a USDA report found that\u00a0the market started to rebound in 2023 after suffering significant losses the prior year<\/a>, it\u2019s still facing uncertainties as congressional lawmakers have advanced bills that would\u00a0effectively ban most consumable hemp-based cannabinoid products<\/a>\u2014a major sector of the cannabis economy.<\/p>\n The Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report in June that hemp provisions included in one spending bill that moved through committee\u00a0could also \u201ccreate confusion\u201d for the industry due to a lack of clarity<\/a>\u00a0around the type of allowable products.<\/p>\n USDA is also reportedly\u00a0revoking hemp licenses for farmers who are simultaneously growing marijuana<\/a>\u00a0under state-approved programs, underscoring yet another policy conflict stemming from the ongoing federal prohibition of some forms of the cannabis plant.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, internally at USDA, food safety workers are being\u00a0encouraged to exercise caution and avoid cannabis products<\/a>, including federally legal CBD, as the agency observes an \u201cuptick\u201d in positive THC tests amid \u201cconfusion\u201d as more states enact legalization.<\/p>\n Feds Feature Stoned Christmas Tree In New Ad Warning About Marijuana-Impaired Driving Around The Holidays<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Federal Agency Honors Hemp Company With Award Recognizing Commitment To Veterans\u2019 Employment<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A federal agency has announced the recipients of an award honoring companies that successfully support military veterans\u2014including a cannabis business that utilizes hemp for building material. In a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Veterans\u2019 Employment and Training Service (VETS) said it isContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79519,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79518\/revisions\/79519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Federal Agency Honors Hemp Company With Award Recognizing Commitment To Veterans\u2019 Employment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"