(WBTW)- A hemp growers conference is coming to Myrtle Beach a month before the city’s ban on CBD along Ocean Boulevard goes into effect.

The hemp industry is growing in South Carolina, and bringing farmers to Myrtle Beach. Those hosting the conference said the goal is to educate people on the plant.

“The conferences were really put together to really educate the public on what hemp is. It’s a beautiful plant and it looks like marijuana but its not,” said Melissa Peterson, with the U.S. Hemp Growers Conference.

The United States Hemp Growers Conference and Expo will be November 25th to the 27th.

In August, the City of Myrtle Beach passed a ban on items like vapes, edibles, and CBD products along part of Ocean Blvd. 

Businesses in that area have until the end of the year to get rid of those products.

Melissa Peterson said the conference was planned for the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, but they had to move it to the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort.

“The city just didn’t feel like this was the right timing for the show and it ended up really being less of an issue than we thought,” said Peterson.

Janel Ralph will speak at the convention. She is the only hemp farmer in Horry County and the owner of Palmetto Harmony, a company that makes products from CBD oil which is extracted from hemp.The federal legal limit of THC in CBD oil is under .3 percent. 

Ralph said her daughter uses CBD for her epilepsy and it has completely improved her quality of life.

“There’s only benefits. There’s no public safety concerns, you cant get high off of this. It’s not marijuana and that’s a huge misconception that we have to battle everyday,” said Janel Ralph.

Peterson said representatives from the University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the State Department of Sgriculture will also attend the expo.

“We want to bring back this old farming tradition and we want to teach people proper ways to use it,” said Peterson.

The South Carolina Dept of Agriculture just recently doubled it’s hemp farms in its pilot program from 20 to 40.

News 13 reached out to the City of Myrtle Beach and have yet to hear back.