In Texas
On Friday, July 31, new restrictions went into effect in Texas on certain hemp products that have made survival untenable for business owners like Molly Mathias. The Grand Prairie native has spent the past six years operating her “Go Easy” shop in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas.
As The Texas Newsroom reports, the ban on smokeable hemp-derived THC products, and products containing certain cannabinoids like delta-8 and delta-10 led to her decision to permanently close.
Texas hemp businesses are now only allowed to sell non-smokeable Delta-9 products. For Mathias, it was the seemingly unending years of uncertainty and legal back forth on regulations, and what she has characterized as lawmakers’ efforts to sabotage the industry.
As Mathias recalls, “One week you are doing good. You're successful. The next week, your business could completely get shut down and go bankrupt. And that's what really it was, is the back and forth for small businesses is just so intense and crazy for us.”
In Louisiana
In Louisiana, the pending deadline facing the hemp product industry comes November 12. That’s when a federal ban takes effect on hemp-derived THC products. Many companies could be devastated. As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, that includes the leader representing Louisiana's hemp beverage industry, Joe Gerrity.
Gerrity is the CEO of Crescent Canna and president of the Louisiana Hemp Beverage Coalition and says he would have to lay off his entire staff and let down contractors who rely on him.
As Gerrity explains, “The consumers, Louisiana Democrat or Republican, they do not want these products to go away. And they do not think it is the place of the federal government to ban products that are already being regulated at the state level.” The coalition says it is working to get the ban overturned before it goes into effect, in a state where THC is an estimated $33 million industry.
That’s why Gerrity supports alternative legislation. “The federal law that we’re hoping will be put into place through the Barr-Craig bill, which is bipartisan solution, would basically require us to do all the things that we’re already doing in Louisiana on a federal level, and we’re for that.”
If the federal ban takes effect in November, the cap would be set at 0.4 mg. per container for THC. Louisiana requires a 5 mg. THC maximum per container, along with an age verification of at least 21. The coalition commissioned a poll by Cygnal, which showed just under 70% of respondents prefer state regulation or a federal framework instead of an outright ban on hemp beverages.
