For the first time, hemp paper is being produced in Colorado from seed to sheet.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Marijuana is growing in Mesa County, but it won't get you high. "We were saving the ranch. It wasn't selling and we had to come up with a way to cover expenses," said Margaret Richardson, a co-owner at Salt Creek Hemp Company.

Ryan Loflin bet the farm in 2013 and did what no U.S. producer had done for 70 years.

Farmers can buy the certified Colorado hemp seeds in 2017.

Colorado, already a national leader in hemp cultivation, is pushing forward with a plan to certify seed, in part to ensure THC levels, the active ingredient in marijuana, do not exceed legal levels.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is announcing that three industrial hemp seed varieties have passed the statewide THC validation and observation trial and are now eligible to be grown by the Colorado Seed Growers Association for production of “CDA Approved Certified Seed.”

BROOMFIELD, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is announcing that three industrial hemp seed varieties have passed the statewide THC validation and observation trial and are now eligible to be grown by the Colorado Seed Growers Association for production of “CDA Approved Certified Seed.”

Although hemp is illegal at a federal level, 13 states have jumped on board the hemp train, and for good reason.

A report released in May showed that nationwide, retail sales for hemp products in 2015 reached $575 million, which was a more than 10 percent increase from the prior year.