Dan Maclure planted eight acres of hemp on his Vermont farm for the first time this year, aiming to cash in on the exploding demand for CBD, a derivative of the plant reputed to ease anxiety and other ills without the high of its close cousin, marijuana.

He persevered when some of his hemp plants grew white with mildew and others failed lab tests and had to be destroyed. With his harvest now complete, Maclure has one more challenge to overcome: selling his surviving crop and recouping an estimated $140,000 investment.

“It’s heart-wrenching thinking about all the work and money you put into it,” said Maclure, who farms in Barton, Vermont, about 35 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border. “I’m not sure I’m going to be venturing out in this again.”

• The 29 U.S. states having reporting licensed hemp cultivation acreage total nearly half a million acres in combined cultivation land area, a massive increase over 2018's combined U.S. total of just over 100,000 acres.
• Colorado leads the nation in hemp cultivation and processing land area with over 80,000 acres reported.
• Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Montana lead in hemp program expansion efforts.
• Tennessee leads in total hemp licenses issued in 2019.
• At least 70% of the 2019 U.S. hemp harvest is intended for extract production.
• California is poised to be the top-producing hemp state for both conventional and organic production as thousands of acres have already been planted in 2019.

Lawmakers in North Carolina are considering a bill that would allow farmers in the state to grow hemp. The measure, the North Carolina Farm Act of 2019 (Senate Bill 315), would classify hemp as a “viable agricultural commodity” and permit farmers to cultivate and sell the crop.

It’s hard to ignore the rumblings for legal marijuana in North Carolina. This week, some policymakers are focusing first on decriminalization measures. On Monday, four state representatives filed as primary sponsors for HB 766, which would erase penalties for possessing four ounces or less of cannabis, making it “no longer unlawful.”

A new bill proposed in Raleigh would make it legal to legally possess up to three ounces of cannabis for personal use. State senator Paul Lowe, a Democrat from Forsyth County, proposed SB 58, which would decriminalize low level drug possession.

It would also allow for some past offenders to have North Carolina drug violations expunged from their record. Possession of up to three ounces of cannabis, the bill proposes, could be erased by a petition with a $100 filing fee. Lowe’s bill would not alter laws regarding sentencing for hashish possession.

Michael Kosta visits a Trump rally in South Carolina to find out how the president's supporters feel about his proposal to add a Space Force branch to the U.S. military.

The Hop Ice Cream Cafe will soon be serving up a bold new flavor with a unique ingredient—cannabis. More specifically they are using CBD oil extracted from cannabis plants.

"It's the only thing that helps keep my pain more or less in check after a surgical procedure, where I was on narcotics and this and that," CBD oil user Jeff Paskow said. For pain relief, inflammation, anxiety and more, patients, like Paskow swear by using CBD oil.

"It stops that moment of a little something and I feel better about it, because this is a killer," Paskow said motioning to his left shoulder. Paskow said he rubbed or vaped the oil, which Brian Bullman, co-owner of Carolina Hemp Co., said would not give him a buzz like smoking marijuana.

A Forsyth County legislator is sponsoring a Senate bill that would make it legal to possess up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use.

Senate Bill 791, and companion House Bill 994, would allow for an increase from the current limit of one-half of an ounce to four ounces before the amount qualifies as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth), the bill’s primary sponsor, said he introduced the bill in an effort “to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. This is heading in the right direction.”

The Tar Heel State could be one step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana.

That's the goal of a new House Bill, which was filed this week and was just sent to a committee for review. If this bill is voted on and approved, having four ounces or less of marijuana would be OK.

The bill's sponsor is a longtime proponent of legalizing marijuana. Rep. Kelly Alexander says making small amounts of marijuana legal to carry is a step in the right direction.

"Over the last four years, maybe five, the population has become much more accepting us changing our laws," Rep. Alexander said earlier in the year.

And according to an Elon University survey, 80 percent of those asked approve of the legalization of marijuana for medical use.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a powerful Republican from North Carolina, suggested in a letter shared with Business Insider that the Senate Judiciary Committee is "likely" to discuss marijuana legalization this year.

The letter was addressed to Rod Kight, a North Carolina lawyer who works with companies in the cannabis industry.