High time I blogged about this!

The coffee shop had an interesting sign--CBD can be added for an additional charge.

CBD at a coffee shop?  Without any special licence?  At a place that minors are allowed?  What's going on?

There is a rapidly evolving market demand "for a hemp-derived extract called cannabidiol, or CBD"

CBD is popping up in everything from cosmetics to chocolate bars to bottled water to pet treats. One Los Angeles bar sells drinks containing the oil, massage therapists use creams containing CBD and juice bars offer the stuff in smoothies. Dozens of online sites sell endless iterations of CBD oils, tinctures, capsules, transdermal patches, infused chocolates and creams with no oversight.

CBD in coffee is a part of this trend.  And there is more CBD entering the market because of marijuana prices plummeting in states like Oregon that have legalized it.

A glut of legal marijuana is driving Oregon pot prices to rock-bottom levels, prompting some nervous growers to start pivoting to another type of cannabis to make ends meet — one that doesn’t come with a high.
Applications for state licenses to grow hemp — marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin — have increased more than twentyfold since 2015, making Oregon No. 2 behind Colorado among the 19 states with active hemp cultivation.

And support for growing hemp is coming from strange corners:

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has introduced The Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which would remove hemp-derived CBD from the Controlled Substances Act, freeing hemp farmers from many of the current federal regulations. For now, much of the hemp-derived CBD consumed in the United States is manufactured in Europe and Israel and imported into the country.

The turtle is on board with this!  But, as long as trump and sessions are in their offices in DC, we will be in a legal grey area. That does not dampen the market though.

Despite confusion around the legislation and some quality concerns, the legions of CBD devotees are growing every day. "It has become a trend since [CBD] is something new and exciting to the majority of the public," says Henry. "It's something that alleviates pain and discomfort, without the negative side effects of pharmaceutical drugs."

One of the reasons that the turtle also supports hemp production--helps struggling farmers.  Not because these farmers are users, but growing hemp can be profitable in an otherwise low-margin activity.

Hemp can be grown to harvest on about half as much water as corn can, for example. Hemp also tolerates a wide variety of soils and temperatures, requires no pesticides, and grows extremely fast, soaring to as much as 20 feet in 100 days.
Thus, if hemp eventually replaces other crops across large acreages, it could free up precious water supplies in the arid West for other uses. This could become especially important with climate change expected to shrink Western mountain snowpacks.

I tell students that this world is way too fascinating, and this entire hemp thing is merely the latest evidence for me.

Some U.S. farms are reporting revenue of $90,000 per acre from CBD oil alone. That compares to around $600 per acre for alfalfa. This makes hemp an enticing choice for any farmer.
And that doesn't count potential profit from the fiber in hemp stalks.

If there is money to be made, jeff sessions and his crazies will be powerless to stop the forces. But, they can take some CBD to ease their pain, or smoke some weed if they want to really chill out ;)