Now that Centennial Seeds has established a presence in Colorado selling cannabis seeds to producers of medical marijuana, Ben Holmes wants to tackle supplying seeds to vendors in other states where medicinal use of the drug is legal.
“We’re looking at the map: There are 14 other medical marijuana states, and we’d like to sell to them,” said Holmes, who runs Centennial Seeds.
“If they are buying seed, they’re buying it from out the country, and it’s black market. We’d like to be a US source of cannabis seed to the industry.”
As a business based in Colorado, where the sale of medical marijuana is legal, Centennial can sell seeds within the state only, but not across state lines.
“What I hope is that the federal government in time will catch up with the state of Colorado in their approach to regulating and taxing this product,” said Holmes.
The sale of medical marijuana, including the seed it grows from, is legal in 15 states and the District of Columbia.
Holmes, who worked in the financial world before getting into the seed business, said he shifted careers because he saw opportunities in medical marijuana. He added that Colorado has about 800 medical marijuana centers and Centennial supplies to 20 percent of them.
Watch the premiere of "Marijuana USA" tonight at 9pm, 10pm, 12am and 1am ET on CNBC.