Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Elana Ashanti Jefferson is a Colorado journalist whose interests include popular and consumer culture, fine arts and nesting.

Recent posts by Elana Ashanti Jefferson

American hemp: Colorado biotech firm ramps up processing plans

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A Colorado biotech company plans to open a large-scale industrial hemp processing facility that will take the crop’s would-be waste — namely hemp stalks — and make it useful.

Hemp seed oil doggy delight helps humans too: Merry Hempsters Dog Salve (review)

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A stout white tube of Certified Organic Dog Salve from The Merry Hempsters that’s perched next to my keyboard is depleted. The rich, khaki-colored ointment is but a stub in the handy roll-up container. This salve is made with hemp seed oil and other natural ingredients including beeswax, lavender, calendula,…

Gone Hemp: Your skin will drink up this Earthly Body oil spray (review)

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California’s Earthly Body skin care and cosmetics company markets its Hemp Seed Moisturizing Oil Spray as a replacement for your daily lotion application. This dewy moisturizer does boast such healthful characteristics as being free of paraben, petroleum, phthalate and gluten. (Makers also find it apropos to remind consumers that by…

Cannabis businesses converging for Indo Expo in Denver, Nov. 15-16

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The Indo Expo Denver trade show , happening Nov. 15-16, has partnered with the Denver Mart to produce the business-to-business (“B2B”) trade show twice a year for the next decade.

Hemp entrepreneurs can’t wait to put U.S.-grown crop to use (interview)

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The owners of Midwest-based HempStrong Brands, Scott Sondles, 27, and Michael Bumgarner, 30, talk about their push to shift US hemp sourcing to American farmers. They plan to attend the upcoming Indo Expo in Denver, a cannabis-industry business convention Nov. 15-16.

Before it was legal: Hemp farmer’s fight to grow crop draws admiration

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Alex White Plume is an elder of the Oglala Lakota tribe and an icon of the contemporary American industrial hemp movement.

Colorado “hempies” celebrating harvest time

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Hemp farmers and activists plan to mark Colorado’s first legal outdoor hemp harvest with special events across the Front Range, including the Colorado Hemp Project Harvest Party in Sterling and a two-day event on a Boulder County farm.

Colorado hemp field coming into bloom in Boulder County

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A hemp grower in Boulder County is opening up her private research plot to visitors, and talking pollination and possibilities for the industry. This harvest is earmarked for Colorado Hemp Coffee’s research-and-development initiatives.

Quiz: How well do you know hemp?

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Colorado’s Amendment 64 opened some doors to the cultivation of industrial hemp, which already is a major commodity worldwide because it can be used to produce thousands of products. Just how well do you know hemp? Test your knowledge of this valuable, ancient plant by taking our quiz.

Gone Hemp: Nutiva cooking oil full of nutrients, hempy flavor (review)

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Hemp cooking oil has several health benefits but also some culinary limitations. The upside to cooking with hemp oil is clear: This is an easy way to absorb hemp’s protein, fiber and “healthy fats,” namely Omega-3 and Omega-6.

Red, white and hemp Americana: Five pivotal moments in U.S. history

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Hemp could have been as all-American as baseball and apple pie, were it not for the plant’s criminalization four decades ago. Here are five critical milestones for hemp in the U.S.

Gone Hemp: Cannabis Beauty Defined targets luxury cosmetics biz (review)

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The Cannabis Beauty Defined line of CBD-rich, anti-aging cosmetics is appropriately contained in tasteful blue containers and stamped with a refined logo — tailor-made for the discriminating female hemp consumer.

Gone Hemp: Twenty-4 Zen granola good for body, soul (review)

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Review: It’s hard to harbor any aversions to Twenty-4 Zen’s gluten-free snack, which was conceived to balance root chakras, or core energy points. That makes sense, as health food junkies who love to eat hemp tend to mention digestive regulation as one of its physiological benefits.

15 unique hemp gifts for her: What to buy for the socially conscious woman

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The selection of American-made hemp-based products continues to expand, making hemp gifts a go-to solution for any occasion. Consider this list of skin-saving salves, herbal body butters, cozy clothes and crafting goods whenever you need a quick, functional gift for a socially conscious lady.

Gone Hemp: Global Hemp Cord proves its might (review)

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Write about industrial hemp products long enough and you’re bound to get around to cord. After all, rope-, cloth- and paper-making are the dominant historical uses for hemp and date back more than 2,000 years, according to hemp experts. Rope remains an obvious application thanks to the strength and durability of hemp plant fibers.

Hemp cabin in Colo. high country to showcase the plant’s possibilities

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Melissa Rabe was already interested in the applications and benefits of industrial hemp two years ago when the High Park Fire charred more than 87,000 acres and 250 homes in the mountains west of Fort Collins, including a 40-year-old cabin that her good friend had built by hand.

Gone Hemp: For great nutrition and taste, hemp seed to the rescue

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Hemp seed, the soft-textured, shelled byproduct of the low- or no-THC cannabis plant, is rich in protein and essential fatty acids like other so-called super foods such as blueberries and salmon.

Healing power of hemp? Science vs. semantics

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Hemp farmers hold up their crop, marijuana’s non-mind altering cousin, as an industrial miracle for its sustainability and myriad processing applications. Could mainstream medicine be the next frontier for hemp?

Gone Hemp: Sudsy magic in Nederland Naturals artisan soap (review)

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There is intangible magic in a product that embodies an idea bigger than itself, like a souvenir that conjures mental snapshots of a favorite adventure, or the smell of a dish that’s so like the one grandma used to make.

Gone Hemp: This cozy yet tough shirt could become your fave (review)

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Duluth Trading Co.’s Artisan Hemp Work Shirt: I was drawn to its light-heather-green pinstripe and the breathable, linen-like texture of the fabric. At $49.50, this shirt should have some bells and whistles, and it does.

Gone Hemp: Miss Mustard Seed’s Hemp Oil Wood Finish (review)

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Miss Mustard Seed offers a 100 percent natural Hemp Oil Wood Finish as a protective, water-resistant top coat for raw and painted wood pieces. Users will recognize the nutty, grassy hemp scent of this furniture oil, as opposed to the chemical smell of more common solvent-based wood cleaners.

Gone Hemp: Earth Dog collars use hemp for durable, cuddly purpose (review)

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When given the choice, Lola prefers no collar. And since the only time this cuddly, 25-pound lap lover needs restraint is when a silly human leaves a sandwich unattended, the terrier usually gets her way when it comes to collars. It’s not as though she doesn’t have any to wear.…

Gone Hemp: This lip balm is soothing, but there’s a twist (review)

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Soothing without glossing, this solid little tin of hemp lip balm stands up to dozens if not hundreds of applications. It’s also reasonably priced. But the tin packaging has some issues.

Celebrating milestone for hemp growers in Boulder

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Veronica Carpio with Grow Hemp Colorado talks about the outlook for industrial hemp as new licensing is set to begin March 1 with the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Grow Hemp Colorado is hosting a Boulder County Hemp Meeting to commemorate the occasion.

Pot world of today missing from “The Marijuana Chronicles” (book review)

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I really hoped that a contemporary collection of short stories such as “The Marijuana Chronicles,” which states as its mission to “keep the flame of pot literature burning bright,” would foster reflections of how we actually live today with marijuana. I wanted to read about rat-race professionals who prefer puffing…

Gone Hemp: Tea devotees will appreciate this Colorado coffee blend (review)

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Colorado company Happy Heart Hemp Coffee blends hemp seeds with coffee beans for health- and heart-minded people. This is a mellow brew, and that may be a turn-off for hard-boiled coffee drinkers.

Gone Hemp: Healing Hemp Salve made by The Fay Farm

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Healing Hemp Salve from Washington company The Fay Farm uses hemp oil to target eczema and psoriasis and is a soothing option for treating dermatitis. It not only does the skin-calming job it promises, it radiates an invigorating scent.

Gone Hemp: Earthly Body’s Marrakesh shampoo and conditioner (review)

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Hair washed and conditioned with Earthly Body’s Marrakesh shampoo and conditioner is shiny and light. But those locks will be saturated for the rest of the day with a woodsy aroma reminiscent of patchouli oil.

Gone Hemp: Hempz Original Herbal Body Butter (review)

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Good body butter is a great thing.

More powerful than the average lotion and less greasy than body oil, extra-emollient body butter is ideal for chapped hands, cracked cuticles, calloused knees and elbows — not to mention everyday dry skin.

Gone Hemp: Malibu Tan Sweet Scents Hemp Body Moisturizer

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Skincare companies with the “nads” to market and sell moisturizer in Colorado had better bring their A Game. It’s no secret that we live high and dry here. At altitude, the air is thinner and the skin is much, much dryer than in other climates.

Gone Hemp: Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps All-One Hemp Almond Pure Castile Soap

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Many a child and grandchild of the Sixties know the Dr. Bronner’s brand. This California company’s “All One” Liquid Magic Soap was one of the country’s first mass-marketed organic body products. It also comes with a compelling family history as the late company founder, Emanuel Bronner, was a Holocaust survivor who brought Old World soap-making techniques to America.