Dreu is the owner of VanHoose Hemp Co in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“My aunts and uncles, they were really big on herbal natural alternative medicines as a way of healing oneself. So I’d like to say I come from a family of healers all the way from my grandfather, which comes full circle.”
Dreu VanHoose
Born and raised in the DMV area (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), Dreu VanHoose attended Drexel University, where she developed a fascination with plant science. Having endured chronic back pain, Dreu began researching plant cannabinoids and the human endocannabinoid system.
Upon moving back to D.C., where growing weed was legal at the time, she taught herself how to cultivate cannabis and began tending to her own set up, researching and absorbing every detail and best practice. When the Farm Bill passed in 2018, Dreu, whose grandparents live in Alabama, decided to begin growing cannabis on a 10-acre plot of land that she inherited from her family.
As she worked to obtain her cultivation license, Dreu became the recipient of the Young Farmers Grant, and continues to partner with HBCUs like Tuskegee and Alabama A&M to do cannabis cultivation research. Through her company, VanHoose Hemp Co., Dreu aims to do more than grow cannabis. Her goal is to advocate for and create a space for women, individuals with previous cannabis-related charges, disabled veterans, and others to flourish in the industry. “Our slogan is Real, Organic and Rooted, and like I say we’re real people,” she says.