A western Colorado town is changing its land development rules to allow CBD extraction from hemp, a change prompted by a hemp grower who appealed zoning rules that allowed him to grow hemp but not process it.
David Cox, who is licensed to grow 100 acres of hemp, successfully argued that processing hemp is similar to the “processing of fruits and vegetables,” according to The (Grand Junction) Daily Sentinel.
Cox plans to extract CBD from his hemp using propane and butane on his property in Palisade, a town on the banks of the Colorado River known for fruit production.
Town trustees agreed to change the code to specifically allow the extraction of oils from plants. The ruling extends beyond hemp to lavender and sage, the newspaper reported.
Colorado is the nation’s top hemp producer, turning in nearly 10,000 acres last year, according to the advocacy group Vote Hemp.
Much of Colorado’s hemp is grown on Colorado’s Western Slope, where there is plentiful agricultural land but many local bans on marijuana production.
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