Marcus Luce established his hemp farm, Country High, in Sussex County, New Jersey, in 2019, anticipating that the state’s move to legalize adult-use cannabis would create opportunities for hemp farmers like himself. His farm not only cultivates hemp—a non-intoxicating variety of cannabis used for products like CBD oils—but also supports retired racehorses, some of which face grim fates overseas as pet food. Luce and other farmers saw hemp as the future of agriculture, expecting to be integrated into New Jersey’s expanding cannabis market.

However, unlike neighboring New York, New Jersey’s cannabis legalization efforts primarily favored large corporate medical marijuana companies, leaving local hemp farmers sidelined. The anticipated transition to include hemp growers in the state’s cannabis industry never fully materialized, forcing farmers like Luce to fight to sustain their operations amid a regulatory environment that has not embraced their role in the market.