To peek inside Nicole Burnette’s grow room, I had to first find her business’ unmarked brick building in south Charlotte and then put on a Tyvek protective suit. The east Charlotte native and co-owner of Queen Hemp Company has been growing everything from microgreens to garlic for more than two decades.

But the hemp-derived legal weed product known as Delta-8 she’s growing now is more popular than anything else she’s ever grown, and she wants to protect her goods.

READ FULL STORY