| join us at 12 noon Thursday, April 8, 2021. Join the show live our iHemp Hour page with Q & A, or view on our YouTube Channel or Facebook Page. Eric first became interested in hemp after reading Jack Herer’s book, the Emperor Wears No Clothes. Jack’s passion and research inspired Eric to cofound hemp clothing and lifestyle brand Ecolution along with Steve DeAngelo in 1992. They developed a line of 100% hemp clothing including jeans, shirts and accessories made in Eastern Europe and grew the company to over $3 million in sales. Since selling the company in 1999, Eric continued to do business in Hungary brokering hemp twines, cordage and textiles. Eric was a founding member of the Hemp Industries Association and was elected to the board of directors in the late 1990’s. He served as HIA Executive Director from 2008 to 2016 and grew membership by more than 250%. Also, Eric cofounded Vote Hemp in 2000 with the goal of legalizing hemp farming and he now serves as the President. Vote Hemp achieved its primary goal of bringing back commercial hemp farming with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and is currently working to ensure the implementation of the USDA Interim Final Rule works for farmers and sets a good foundation for hemp industry growth and success. With 30 years of hemp and cannabis industry experience, Eric also consults on cannabis business, policy and strategy. He is currently working with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe to help them develop a sustainable and profitable hemp farming program and a tribal brand. Eric also serves as an advisor to Solvent, a cannabis and hemp fintech firm that develops compliance and payment solutions. Eric is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a trusted source to the media on hemp policy and the industry, including CBS, New York Times, Forbes, CNN, Rolling Stone and the Washington Post. Vote Hemp lead the effort to pass hemp farming legislation nationwide. In 2005, Eric worked with Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) to draft the first modern U.S. hemp legislation introduced in Congress (H.R. 3037). In 2012 he worked with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to get companion hemp legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 3501). Eric worked with Congressman Polis (D-CO) and Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) to have hemp legislation included in the 2014 Farm Bill. The 2014 Farm Bill authorized the first legal hemp farming in over 50 years and resulted in 78,176 acres of hemp being planted across 24 states in 2018. Vote Hemp also played an integral role in the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill including fully removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. |
