With hemp coming up on its second anniversary of legality in the Hoosier state and CBD and marijuana becoming a part of casual conversation like never before, it’s time to meet some of the women giving life to the Indiana cannabis industry—especially the one that helped bring it into being.
For now, cannabis use and growing is limited to THC-free strains (the active compound that gets you high) that become CBD oils, gummies, patches and other products. (Though in states like California and Colorado, where medical and recreational marijuana is legal, dispensaries have been deemed “essential” businesses and can remain open during the current coronavirus pandemic.) CBD has been credited with helping users with anxiety, sleep, pain, and a host of other ailments, and 1 in 7 American adults have used it. With an annual industry growth rate of 107%, the total market value of CBD products is projected to hit $23B by 2023. It’s a whole new world for Indiana cash crops, and here are just some of the women on the cutting edge.
Jubilee of Wellness
Jubilee of Wellness is the brand under which Michelle Finn produces a full line of CBD products from concentrated tinctures to gummies and topical salves. She started the line after caring for her mother during her battle with acute leukemia and a bone marrow transplant and uses only holistically produced hemp for her products, which you can find online, at a handful of local stores, and at the farmer’s market.
Linne Farm
Kelly Linne and her husband Joe grow organic hemp for extraction purposes under contract for Jubilee of Wellness. The farmers work with Michelle Finn to farm the ideal strains for use in salves, balms and tinctures. They live and work on their Southern Indiana farm where they’re slowly scaling up production with their outdoor-grown, all-natural hemp strains.
ZIZI Snaps
Amanda Smith wants to make it easier to incorporate hemp oil extracts into your daily routine, so she founded ZIZI Snaps. These little wallet-size packets fit just about anywhere, so you can snap one open and take it sublingually anytime you need to focus, sleep, energy, or relief from the stresses of the day. “We knew we needed to be different,” says Smith, so they brought the European “snap pack” technology stateside. “You don’t have to worry about your tinctures being polluted by oxygen or bacteria from constantly re-opening the bottle,” and they are easy to take on the go. The Carmel-based brand uses American-grown hemp for their extracts, and you can find them at zizisnaps.com or at your local C-store.
Rooted Scales
Amy Sawyer and Jaimeson Wright founded Rooted Scales after using CBD products themselves for years. They make tea, salves, and extracts for both people and pets, and they have wide distribution across the Indianapolis area, from health food stores to dispensaries. Find the location closest to you using the store locator on their website.
Valley Cannabis Co.
Anna Jones’ Valley Cannabis Co. is a French Lick-based company selling some of the highest quality CBD-producing hemp strains available in the state. If you’re looking to get your own grow started, VCC can help you get on your way with multiple strains of no-THC, high-CBD strains to get your greenhouse off the ground.
PharmFree Life Dispensary
Nicole Anderson owns and operates this adorable coffee, tea and CBD shop on 82nd Street, looking like a colorful Apple store selling life’s two best mood enhancers. They carry a range of CBD products, many from Indiana producers like Rooted Scales and Dreem Nutrition, along with the coffee and tea drinks you’d expect.
CBD JUBILEE
Alix Litwack worked as a holistic nutritionist for 15 years before opening CBD Jubilee in Broad Ripple, helping people use food to heal themselves. She brings that same holistic approach to helping customers select the right CBD products for any ailment, from patches to gummies to hemp-based intimate care (yes, there is CBD lube, and Jubilee carries it).
Jamie Campbell Petty, Executive Director/Treasurer Midwest Hemp Council
After a long career as a litigation paralegal, Petty turned her sights onto the cannabis industry, becoming one of the most prominent and successful voices in the fight to legalize the Indiana hemp industry. She won her fight, and in doing so, created a whole new kind of sustainable agricultural industry in the state. “The resulting jobs from the many uses of hemp, to include growing, harvesting, processing, a seed to shelf economy, will benefit all Hoosiers!” Petty says.
Sarah Murrell is a regular Indy Maven contributor.