Fingerboard Farm operated as a soybean and corn farm for years in Frederick County, but owner Dawn Gordon realized that planting a different kind of crop could be a way to switch from food to medicine.
When the U.S. Congress passed a bill in 2018 to make it easier to grow hemp, a low-THC variety of cannabis, Gordon jumped at the opportunity to add a new crop to her Ijamsville farm. Gordon used hemp-based products for years to mitigate the symptoms of Lyme disease and felt the plant had the potential to help people suffering from similar inflammation-based illnesses. The legalization of recreational cannabis in Maryland last year gave Gordon another chance to evolve Fingerboard Farm into an Airbnb with a unique cannabis-focused angle, capturing a demographic of customers that have long existed in the shadows of American life.
“I’m seeing so many younger parents who don’t even consume alcohol and they say cannabis is acceptable in our homes,”Gordon said. “That is a whole realm of people who have been in the background.”
Gordon is among the many Maryland entrepreneurs finding ways to enter the growing cannabis market through events and other experiences that don’t require winning one of the hundreds of hard-to-get state licenses needed to grow or sell the plant. The state’s nascent cannabis tourism industry covers a wide range of companies, from Airbnbs like Fingerboard to event organizers, travel agents and even chefs, all with a similar focus on providing experiences to a growing group of customers looking to do more than just smoke cannabis at home.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Matt Hooke over at Baltimore Business Journal
