Monday morning at 8am the Texas House State Affairs Committee will begin, and will include SB3 on their agenda for the day along with HB 28.
This does not mean that the committee will hear the bill the first thing in the morning. It is possible that other bills may be added and heard first with minimal testimony, just to get them out of the way.
At the time of writing though only the two hemp bills sit on the agenda for the committee that day. It could be expected that many people show up and something similar to what Texans saw in the Senate committee hearing could take place with it being an all day hearing of testimony.
THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE FOR TEXANS TO VOICE ON THE RECORD WHAT THEIR CONCERNS ARE WITH SB3
If you are a shop owner and your livelihood is on the line because of this bill, this hearing should be priority for you. This is the last time and only time in the House that your testimony can go on the official record and everyone gets a chance to testify.
The hearing will take place in the Reagan building in room JHR20. That’s on the 2nd floor of the Reagan Building which can be located on the map above circled in red. You must register at the capitol the day of the hearing to testify. Testimony will be limited to 2 min and the House hearing are usually strict on the 2 min time limit unlike the Senate which gives some leniency.
To submit written testimony to the Texas House, prepare a concise document (ideally under 3-5 minutes worth of reading try to stay within 1 to 2 pages max) and submit it to the committee clerk, along with 20 copies for the committee members, before or during the hearing.
TIPS ON CRAFTING and GIVING TESTIMONY
Stories that are common are not bad, but get repetitive and implicitly unwanted as they become memorable in a more negative light than positive. Give your original perspective, listen to other testify and mold your own verbal testimony to what others have noted as to not overlap so much. It is not advised that one speak on medical topics as though they are medical experts unless they are a medical expert, the Senate is using this against the industry in that it proposed they should be in the medical program (despite its gross limitations).
To go over this again, this is meaning don’t talk like a medical expert or the medical relief it gives you or your clients. Therapeutics is one thing, but discussing THCa like its the fuel for healing everything is not a good move.
If you have any questions, feel free to message us through our contact page, social media accounts Facebook and Instagram, or even on LinkedIn. We want to be organized and professional.
And last but not least, dress business casual or business professional. A good rule of thumb is dress LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO COURT AND GOING TO BE IN FRONT A JUDGE. The Capitol is an official court house and the attire of such meetings is expected to be approximate as such. Dressing as though you are going to a grunge concert in the middle of Iowa give an impression of a lack of concern or care for your attendance and the gravity of the matter at hand.
Just relax and be calm
It is an emotional hell ride at times and the mileage of what you feel may vary. That’s okay. Anger and Sadness are not uncommon, but it is not justification to go into a physical tantrum. It can get you removed from the building and it doesn’t look good. And do not use foul language, it isn’t classy to sound like a salty sailor pulling into Baltimore.
Texas, lets go defend our market and get the right moves made to make our market even better with proper regulations.
Story originally appeared on our with colleagues website at Texas Cannabis Collective:
I hope that this finds you doing well, but your grandson has some concerns about your near future.
I’ve tried telling you in the past that he was looking into ways he could do this. I remember you telling me that there was nothing on the news about it, so it must be my wild imagination. Well, it’s on the news now if you didn’t see.
Our Lt Governor just put out a written list of legislative priorities for the next legislative session. One of them is exactly this grandma. Banning Delta 8 and 9:Examine the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Texas. Make recommendations to further regulate the sale of these products, and suggest legislation to stop retailers who market these products to children.
Nana, we both know you’re no kid. And I hope you know better than to believe that anybody in this state was making products with the hopes that children would get their hands on them. And nobody is trying to argue that the retailers should even be allowed to sell to children. I know that you like the packaging that reminds you of some of your favorite candies, but it’s not like that to get kids involved. It’s like that because it reminds you of your favorite candies and it helps you decide which ones better suit your taste.
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And it’s not just the gummies and Dan and his senators will be going after. They will go after any flower products, oils, tinctures, and even the salves you use on your joints. When they say ban the intoxicating substance grandma, they mean to ban the very thing that gives you relief at the chemical level, not the final product level.
The legislature doesn’t know of a way of banning just the end product without allowing some sort of base product that could be used in a way they don’t approve of. They just find it easier to ban the substance altogether. And this substance, it’s naturally part of the plant. All of the work spent creating viable crops with a market that would buy any end product, gone. Out the window. 5 years of hard work across an entire industry will be wiped out. You’ll be left with nothing to use, and the economy will take a giant hit too.
Oma, I’m telling you that over 19 billion dollars in economic action will take a major hit, if not wiped out from the ban. I know that nineteen billion sounds like a joke number to you at times. But one of those big economic firms called Whitney Economics with a load of qualified professionals, reported last year about these numbers. Over one and a half billion dollars was spent on wages in this state alone. That’s over a hundred million dollars in social security funds that are helping to cover your current check from social security. Yeah, you can be mad about it possibly running out, but it won’t help if the state is slashing funds going into the pool of money.
Grams, it won’t help if they cut 5,000 businesses from the market and destroy 50 thousand jobs. It will put a toll on the unemployment system and possibly take a major hit on increasing the homeless population. It will take a hit on families that started these businesses with everything they own as investment to see it succeed. The government isn’t going to bail out a business it tries to cut.
Abuela, I know that you had access in other states and in one of the places you lived before retirement that it was the equivalent of a parking ticket for getting caught. It’s not like that here in Texas. If you have flower it’s class B misdemeanor which means a huge fine and jail time. If you have the gummies and oil, it’s jail time from being a felony. Por el amor de Dios Abuela, te ruego que tomes esto en serio. Al estado de Texas no le importa un carajo tu vejez.
Older people are making up a bigger population of the prison system grandma, and it’s coming from new arrests and not just people getting old in the system. I don’t want to see you becoming one of them. Those people don’t get almost any of their proper meds. Your special diet for your heart and blood sugar, doesn’t exist.
I’m not asking for people to be able to sell to kids. It hasn’t really been an issue. I don’t think anybody would have a problem with requiring only adults to be able to purchase it over the counter. We’re not needing marketing legislation either, grandma, it already exists to stop companies from ripping off other products’ trademarks. We both know kids like anything flashy and shiny, but that doesn’t mean we ban everything flashy and shiny does it?
Just remember this for the next 6-7 months Grandma as election campaigns start asking for your opinion. You have to let them know you don’t want to lose your therapeutic hemp products. You have to remind them that addressing imaginary or minor problems with a ban doesn’t fix anything. Holding people responsible for careless behavior that hurts others, that’s a solution.
Anyways Grandma, I can’t wait to see you again and have some of those cookies and that tasty pecan pie you make every time. It’s my favorite. Has been since I can remember you making it for me back when you said I was a big boy that didn’t need a highchair anymore. Hugs and kisses.
Texas advocates and business owners should be prepared at minimum to fight like hell if needed.
Texans turned out to the polls late October and early November to show who they favored to be stewards of Texas for the next two to four years.
The results are a largely unchanged Texas legislative landscape. Republicans still have a majority, a few new faces will appear, and statewide incumbents that ran kept their seats.
Last year, I chimed in on delta-8 in Texas. I noted that in this next legislative session we can expect to see varied interests coming out on all sides, including medical marijuana groups that are going to have input about this, and the hemp industry needs to be ready with answers and be ready to fight for their products. We are all in this together and we all need to push the industry forward together in a healthy and responsible fashion if we want this to work.
I think those words are still true today. With what everyone saw transpire in the 2021 legislative session, people should be ready for a war on the hemp front overall. Delta-8 is not the only thing on the line.
We watched as several bills moved over to the senate, to include one that dealt with penalty reduction measures for concentrates of marijuana. The hemp clean-up bill was involved in the mess that resulted in the death of both bills.
Take a look at the current planks for the Republican Party of Texas and you’ll notice that they mention hemp. That the party wishes to reduce the regulation of hemp in the state. How would that even be done in a state where the state is looking for its program to meet just the minimum federal requirements to stay as open as possible?
The program gets more restrictive is what takes place. How can removing regulation make things more restrictive you may be asking. Currently the state of Texas has a regulation as part of the law for the hemp program that keeps a county from banning hemp as a whole or in part. They cannot ban the transportation through their county, per federal law, but when has that stopped Texas from still arresting for the transportation of hemp and confiscating the plant?
Deregulating in that area would allow places like Montgomery County, Navarro County, and counties across the panhandle to explicitly ban the substance. It could be flower they ban, it could be oils that they ban. Edibles could go away, so could industrial hemp if they so desire. They could just say that hemp as a plant is banned there.
Delta-8 was the obvious target last session. It was setup in a way to cause factions between the hemp industry. Farmers vs shops was the dichotomy that was evident in the end. Both should be on the same team though. The farmers make money from their product currently being sold by shops as the industrial side is still getting set up to process mass product. Ending either side of that equation in the next few years will cripple the Texas hemp market even further.
Federally a court has ruled that delta-8 is a legal item on that level. That if congress intended for it to not be an item of legal availability, the body could have done something about it by now. There is nothing that explicitly states though that a state has to keep a specific isomer.
This should be expected in the upcoming legislative session. And it must be said as a big picture item that hemp bills are not the only place where hemp can get torn apart. The industry will have to pay attention to all of the cannabis bills put forward this session. Delta-8 could face issues in any number of bills.
Pay attention to the advocacy organizations in the state and when they are releasing updates about legislative items. If you’re a consumer, be ready to write letters and show up to hand out information or be available when a mass lobby day is announced. For business owners and consumers alike, be ready to testify at committee hearings that could be scheduled for 8am one morning and not have the bill heard until 9-10pm at night or possibly later.
If you are a business owner in this space, this is part of running your business from the start of the legislative session, until the end of said session in 2023. Your business is on the line, your farm is on the line, your processing facilities are on the line. If you are a consumer, your favorite products are on the line. Do not let this slip away without a massive push to keep it in place at a minimum.
Texas has two big names on the ballot for AG Commissioner in November. Meet the incumbent challenger, Susan Hays.
If you’ve been in the cannabis space since Texas went hemp, you likely know of her. If you don’t, at least one other person in your connection for hemp in Texas does. Susan Hays is a prolific attorney in Texas that has been at the forefront of cannabis legislation for quite some time. Hays was heavily involved in the crafting of the original language of the Texas hemp bill HB1325 in the 86th regular legislative session.
Susan was named the first cannabis Super Lawyer® in the state of Texas, and continues to be a top attorney in the state of Texas on the topic. Hays has been involved in many other highly prolific cases in the state such as issues with voting in the state and women’s healthcare.
Hays latest case she was involved in revolved around the smokable hemp ban language from DSHS and created by the legislature with HB1325. The state ruled that the legislature’s language was constitutional per the state constitution and federal guidance, but that the DSHS language would have its injunction upheld as the agency dropped their argument. Hays has stated there are limits on what DSHS can add. So it’s likely that they realized they were possibly exceeding their limits as an agency.
Susan’s family has been ranching in the West Texas areas since shortly after the Civil War in the US. She’s a fifth-generation Texan. She and her husband own land outside of Alpine Texas which is southwest of Fort Stockton where they have been experimenting with growing both hemp and hops. She’s noted that her family over the years had started to find a balance between farming/ranching and becoming educated in other industries in order to continue their legacy in the area. Her generation being the ones that left the area for the cities to get higher education and better paying wages. The area has been known for cattle and cotton.
Americans and Texans have not only seen the global economy change, but the Texas economy as well. Along with changing geographical issues that have been arising from recurring droughts in Texas, Hays has seen the need for farmers and ranchers to diversify what they grow or raise. Being dependent on one or two items alone will eventually cause a town and its residents to suffer long term.
On the issue of cannabis though, Hays really dispels the notion that moving the plant towards a legalization direction is a societal disaster waiting to happen. A phrase advocates have used is that the sky is not falling from legalizing anywhere. And Susan is quick to point that out as well. The writing is on the wall. All Texas has to do is read it and be smart about expanding cannabis laws, and Susan feels she is best equipped to do just that as an attorney who understands agriculture.
Susan notes that leadership roles in Texas with their failure to deal with cannabis reform the right way has caused issues. Their failure to adequately fund criminal justice has created a void in the state’s ability to identify and test dangerous black market products. Susan has pointed out several times in discussions that funding for police education and training is vital to the success of these programs and the safety of the citizens in the state as well. When these mechanisms aren’t utilized correctly the market will always fill a void where there is money to be made. Hays points out that Texas’s failure to get ahead of the market only allows the black market to expand while good cannabis operators are at a disadvantage.
She’s publicly stated as well that our forensic crime labs in the state are seriously underfunded. These same labs lack the ability to test mystery substances or do full spectrum analysis on possibly dangerous items such as black-market vape pens. These same labs are already having difficulty processing rape kits and dangerous drugs quickly.
Hays has positioned herself that the state of Texas needs to fund criminal justice and legalize cannabis the right way. Susan believes that a healthy cannabis regulatory regime should focus on some core values:
Cannabis should not be regulated more heavily than other products unless there is a valid scientific, medical, or public safety reason to do so.
The regime should promote public health and safety while creating economic opportunity for as many Texans as possible.
Regulations and taxation should accomplish a clear goal without economically burdening the industry ⎯ or patients.
As Susan Hays puts it: Farming is hard, ethics should be easy
You’ve likely heard of the growing state and hyper localized movement in the cannabis legalization space: Ground Game Texas (GGT).
GGT has been working several cities on progressive measures to include decriminalization of misdemeanor amounts of marijuana flower. The success has already taken root in Austin, and now Texans wait to see if other towns such as Denton and San Marcos will join the ranks after this coming election in November. I had a chance to reach out and inquire with the co-founders Julie Oliver and Mike Siegel to get some insight and see what is in store for the blooming reform group in Texas.
Jesse Williams /TX Hemp Reporter: – How did GGT come to be the organization it is today? I know that both Mike and you have been candidates for congressional office in the past. What happened for each one that y’all made the jump from that to cannabis advocacy?
Julie Oliver: After our congressional losses in 2020, Mike and I knew we wanted to stay involved in helping push progressive issues forward in Texas while also helping turn out voters. Texas has a terrible record when it comes to voter turnout; e.g. in November 2020, 5.7 million registered Texans did not vote.
Mike Siegel – Julie read a post-mortem on the 2020 election, and one page in particular stood out – it was a page on all of the ballot initiatives that outperformed Democrats in red and blue states. Florida passed a $15/hour minimum wage by ballot initiative. Missouri expanded Medicaid. Nebraska reformed the most predatory of lending practices – the payday loan. And both Montana and South Dakota legalized cannabis. These are really progressive issues that won overwhelmingly in these states, but folks aren’t connecting the dots that their elected officials aren’t passing these issues as legislation.
So voters in each of these states took it into their hands to make change; it’s direct democracy. In Texas, we do not have the power of citizen-led statewide ballot initiatives, but we do have the power to make change happen locally in several cities in Texas. So we decided to start in our own city with cannabis decrim.
TX Hemp Reporter: – I know of movements in Denton, Killeen, Harker Heights, Austin, and San Marcos here in Texas that are doing decriminalization measures. Are there any other cities currently trying to get a ballot initiative going?
JO – We completed signature collection in Elgin as well. More cities to come in 2023.
TX Hemp Reporter: – Are there any other cities that Ground Game is looking to focus on next with an attempt to decriminalize misdemeanor marijuana possession?
MS – We are looking at a number of cities for 2023, but Houston is likely one of the cities we will work in with a group of activists there.
TX Hemp Reporter: – The Ground Game website states, “We’re not waiting for politicians to make change. We will work to put popular policies on the ballot and engage voters on the issues.” In Austin the decriminalization measure was also with a measure to end no-knock warrants. Are there any other policies that ground game is looking at in Austin, or any other city for that matter?
JO – In South Texas, we are working on $15/hour minimum wage increases for city employees and city contractors. In El Paso, we are finalizing signature collection for a climate initiative that would require the city to take steps to meaningfully address climate change. I think we can also have meaningful reform through the ballot initiative when it comes to civil asset forfeiture.
TX Hemp Reporter: – Some ballot initiatives like the one in Austin are aimed at getting the vote done during the primary election season/statewide election off season votes. Others are aimed at getting the vote on a midterm election ballot. Can you elaborate on why those votes take place at separate times. Is it because of when voter signatures are due?
MS – We think that putting popular, progressive issues on ballots across our state will help drive turnout in a state that ranks near bottom in terms of voter turnout. Texas had 5.7million registered voters who did not vote in November 2020; that means more folks didn’t vote in Texas than voted for President Biden.
When a ballot initiative shows up on a ballot is a function of when signatures are turned in to the City Secretary or City Clerk, when the City Secretary/Clerk verifies the requisite numbers of signatures have been submitted, and then when City Council takes it up for vote. Ultimately, we’d love to help drive turnout in lower-turnout elections (like the midterm election later this year).
TX Hemp Reporter: – What other organizations has Ground Game partnered with that are local and statewide organizations to fight for change? I know of Mano Amiga, Texas Cannabis Collective, and Decriminalize Denton, as I have personally worked with all three in some capacity on campaigns for signature drives and events to change cannabis law in San Marcos and the state?
JO – Yes, we’re grateful for the boots-on-the-ground partnerships we’ve made in the cities you mentioned. We couldn’t do any of this work without local partners. In Killeen, we are working with local activists and the former Mayor Pro-Tem, who retired from City Council but still wants to see meaningful criminal justice reform in her city. In El Paso (which is probably our most ambitious and comprehensive initiative), we partnered with the local Sunrise Movement hub. In South Texas, we are working with Lupe Votes. And as I mentioned, if we do work in Houston next year on cannabis decrim, it will be in partnership with local advocates there as well.
TX Hemp Reporter: – Are there any other big names whether they be current officer holders, former office holders, celebrities or the like that have shown support for Ground Game Texas? Or are there any names that would come as surprising to show support? I know that Beto O’Rourke has made cannabis a talking point of his campaign for Governor, I can imagine he supports GGT.
MS – I’m sure there are 🙂
TX Hemp Reporter: – What does the organization see as its future after the 2022 elections?
JO – Texas is a huge state, and we see the opportunity in many cities to put “workers, wages, and weed” on ballots across our state.
TX Hemp Reporter: The website for Ground Game Texas is https://www.groundgametexas.org/. Are there any other avenues of information for readers to check out to get a better grip on what’s going on with the policy changes you’re tackling that you all could recommend?
MS – In addition to our website, we also have a social media presence – IG, Twitter, FB – @groundgametx
IF VOTING FOR CANNABIS FRIENDLY CANDIDATES IS HOW YOU CHANGE THE LAW IN THE STATE OF TEXAS IN NOVEMBER, HERE’S WHERE THEY STAND
We’ve finally escaped primaries in the state of Texas with the runoffs giving us our November candidates and new seat holders. Some seats are called as there will be no opponent on the ballot in November. Unfortunately this also means that there is likely to be a point of contention among people when it comes to discussing cannabis friendly candidates showing on the ballot where there are incumbents and party loyals.
Cannabis herb and leaves for treatment.Buds. Skunk. cbd, hemp buds and money,Closeup of assorted American banknotes.World economic crisis associated with coronovirus.
When it comes to the individual reps on the ballot, most Democratic candidates have shown to be in favor. That does not mean the Republican candidates are always opposed either. Texas NORML has put together a wonderful list of candidates that responded to a survey they put forward well before primaries started. Several questions were asked and candidates were given a chance to respond. If a candidate for your state house or senate district has not responded, it is recommended that one reach out to the contact information listed on the survey results for that candidate.
On a state level it’s not looking so much in the favor of the Republican candidates this election. Greg Abbott has signaled that he does not want to see prisons and jails filled with cannabis offenders, but has also put forward that possession should still be hit with criminal penalties instead of civil penalties. Abbott has stated that he is a hard no on legalization of marijuana and has not signaled any current favor towards expanding the medical cannabis side of things in Texas.
Abbott’s Democrat opponent Beto O’Rourke is almost a total 180 on cannabis positions. Beto has posited legalizing to help provide property tax relief and help to fund schools in the state. Expanding the medical program on the radar, and so is eliminating criminal penalties. It should be expected to be a big topic when it comes time for debates between the candidates.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
Abbott’s stance on criminal possession charges, while better than not moving it at all, is hit by a roadblock of the incumbent Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Patrick is the Republican incumbent running for this election with Democratic opponent Mike Collier making a ballot appearance return. Collier was the Democrat opponent 4 years ago and lost by a narrow margin.
Patrick has vocalized in a previous legislative session that any movement to decriminalize cannabis possession would be killed in the Senate.Legalization is off the table with Patrick and the notion of getting medical advancement is insanely difficult given that Patrick has shown to not be favorable and his stand-ins during his absence on the floor have been rather against cannabis progression as well.
Collier has been vocal about changing the law in the state and has been in favor of using the program for the same reason’s Beto has. Collier has also noted that a vast injustice has been created socially with the criminalization of cannabis and that legalization would rectify that. One may think that Collier would be a Texas favorite for this election given his work within the oil industry in Texas along with his work with the highly trusted accounting and audit company PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The agency is known for maintaining the integrity and secrecy of the academy award nominations every year. Oil and election integrity – sounds very Texas.
Then there is the race for AG Commissioner. Incumbent Republican Sid Miller has been on the record saying that he desires to see cannabis move forward for medical reasons in the state of Texas and changes for the better with the hemp program in the state. These statements came about before the most recent legislative session. Unfortunately, Mr. Miller was not very vocal publicly during the 87th legislative session and a hemp cleanup bill was killed over delta-8 language added by the senate. Medical only moved a slight margin with no public statements from Miller during the legislative session on that topic either.
Sid’s opponent is Democrat Susan Hays. Susan is an attorney and a rancher in Texas and has most recently been in the spotlight as one of the attorneys involved in the smokable Hemp ban case. Susan has helped to craft the hemp bills in Texas and guide the process so that things like who is responsible for what, would make more sense. Of course language gets changed after drafting it and before it’s submitted for official filing by an official. Hays has been vocal about having a properly regulated program in place that makes sure each law enforcement agency in the state is aware of the agricultural programs Texas now has legalized.
And when it comes to attorney general, there is the incumbent Ken Paxton whose office is currently fighting the delta-8 cases brought forward by the Texas Hemp Federation. Paxton’s office was initially trying to defend a retail ban along with the manufacturing ban of smokable hemp products in the state of Texas. The retail ban was not kept as DSHS dropped fighting to keep it. Paxton has not shown any support for the industry.
Rochelle Garza is the Democrat opponent that Ken Paxton will have to face in November. Garza’s stance is that of “it never should have been criminalized. The fight for legal cannabis isn’t about making a dangerous substance legal. 18 states have already legalized cannabis, and Texas needs to be next if we want to jump-start criminal justice reform.”
It would be great to see conservative statewide office holders showing the enthusiasm Sid Miller was showing in 2020. The voting base is for it and that includes Republican voters when promoting it to fund schools and keep property taxes down. As much as there are conservatives that are for having a stellar medical program the way Oklahoma does, the key positions within the statewide offices, don’t seem to be there.
The offices and incumbents need votes to stay around and every candidate is doing a behavior to either obtain something or avoid something. They need votes to obtain time in office and avoid getting out to the curb. Elections happen so that people can decide to not give them their votes if they cannot learn to do the right things for the people when in office. This is your voice Texas, this is your vote. We as journalists shouldn’t tell you how to vote when it comes to articles such as these. But when it comes to these topics we can give you the facts available on their positions and the candidates history with the topics.
Be sure to vote, Texas. If you are not registered, do so. Start finding out now what your voting locations are and your candidates. Ask them questions. Use your first amendment right and question these people. To check out the NORML voting guide for Texas, just Google Texas NORML Voter’s Guide
Perhaps you’ve just entered the market for Texas Hemponomics or maybe you’re a veteran in the field already. Whichever one you are, here are 10 Texas Hemp Labs you can keep an eye on.
The list is not all inclusive, and is listed in alphabetical order. These are labs that are showing up to conventions and trade shows to showcase their abilities.
ABS LABS, LLC
In 2018 ABS launched cannabis testing consulting services, providing licensed laboratories throughout North America access to innovative, compliant cannabis analytical methods, laboratory support, and leading testing technologies. AS of today ABS continues research and development for new applications in environmental sciences and healthcare, meeting the demand for accessible, innovative solutions ABS is headquartered in the Dallas, Texas metroplex area of Carrollton. For more information and how to get in contact with them visit https://altbio.com/abs-labs/ or call (972) 241-1388
cannabis oil cbd
ANALYTICAL FOOD LABORATORIES, INC.
Founded over 25 years ago, in 2018, AFL joined the Tentamus Group, which was founded a decade ago, providing clients access to a global network of labs. Accredited and licensed Tentamus Group tests, audits and consults on all products involving the human body. Tentamus Group is represented in over 50 locations worldwide with more than 2,500 highly-trained staff members working in over 2 million square feet of laboratory and office spaces.
AFL can assist you with product analysis and development, trouble-shooting, quality assurance and compliance issues. Routine laboratory analysis is offered on a per test basis and to meet customer needs. AFL is an ISO 17025 accredited lab, and also holds accreditations with USDA, NELAC/NELAP and is registered with the FDA. Procedures comply with official methodologies including FDA, USDA, AACC, AOAC, AOCS, ASTA, EPA AND USP.
AFL is located in Grand Prairie, Texas. For more information about AFL, visit https://www.afltexas.com/ or contact afl@afltexas.com – 972-336-0336
BLUEBONNET LABS
Bluebonnet Labs had the honor this past year to be the official lab for testing of the submissions entered into the 3rd annual (2021) Texas Hemp Awards. BL has been serving the hemp community since 2020. Bluebonnet labs yields a quantitative analysis to determine the potency of Cannabinoids and Terpenes. Contaminants such as Pesticides, Heavy Metals, Residual Solvents, Microbiological and Mycotoxins are carefully analyzed using baseline values established as unsafe or harmful and reported to a high level of accuracy.
BL offers cannabinoid potency testing, residual solvent testing, pesticide testing, microbiological testing, terpene testing, heavy metal testing, mycotoxins testing, along with filth and foreign material inspections. BL is AL2A certified and ILAC MRA accredited.
Eastex has been in the laboratory game since 1986. Eastex Environmental Laboratory is 100% employee owned – and they feel that ownership of their name, their quality of work, and their relationships is what sets them apart from the competition. Eastex offers along with hemp testing, (surface & core) complete soil evaluation of surface and subsurface samples per customer specifications, ground water evaluations of wells and public water systems, and water quality of lakes, ponds and creeks among other items.
EEL is Accredited for Chemical Sampling through the Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. ALong with their various testing packages, Eastex provides some consultation work to help ensure farmers are getting the most out of their time with their crops.
EEL has two locations in Texas, one in Coldspring and the other in Nacogdoches. For more information visit hemp.eastexlabs.com and https://www.eastexlabs.com/ 936-653-3249 hemp@eastexlabs.com
IONIZATION LABS
Founded by Cree-Crawford, Ionization Labs is the testing service used by the Texas A&M Agrilife Extensions Hemp Program. Ionization Labs is an ISO-17025 Accredited Potency Testing Lab and AL2A certified.The unique thing about Ionization Labs is their CANN-ID testing system which allows for farm to market in-house testing along with lab verification upon sending in samples.
This allows for anyone partnering with Ionization labs to test their products immediately upon either harvest in hand or on the shelf products to initially know what they really have. From there an official sample is sent to Ionization Labs and their team verifies the results. This eliminates having to send multiple samples over and over and wait for turnaround. Just test the samples you want to test and send in the ones you desire for verification.
Ionization Labs is headquartered in Austin, Texas and can be reached at 737-231-0772 or find them online at https://ionizationlabs.com/
KJ SCIENTIFIC INDEPENDENT TESTING LABS
KJ Scientific LLC is a certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) with a global reach. KJ Scientific was founded with a mission of ensuring human and environmental health through rigorous testing and analysis of the chemicals and products introduced to the market. To uphold these high standards, they became the first product testing lab in the world to exclusively use new, innovative in-vitro technology in their chemical testing products and services outside of the hemp sphere.
KJ Scientific utilizes advanced chromatographic instrumentation and detection techniques to test and analyze each sample to ensure they’re legally compliant and safe for market consumption. Consulting and Direction – their services cover every aspect of vertical production of CBD from extraction to final validation for the market. KJ Scientific is part of the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) and has ISO/IEC 17025 certification.
Founded by Jesse and John Kerns, New Bloom originated in Tennessee and expanded into Texas once the state passed it’s hemp program in 2019. The lab is ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certified. NBL is capable of testing plant material, crude oil,concentrates, isolate, distillate, kief, topicals and ingestibles.
NBL built an entire customer service department in their company. What this means is that their dialogue with their customer doesn’t end when they deliver a certificate of analysis. Instead, when a client needs a consultation or help interpreting results both their customer service team, as well as technical staff are available to help consult you on your results. NBL also commonly helps customers create a testing and compliance program that’s the right size for their business. Not everyone needs to test as much as some others might. NBL will help you identify your best practice needs for testing crops and products, and keep you from ordering unnecessary testing.
Santé Laboratories is an Accredited Hemp Testing Laboratory in the State of Texas. Santé Laboratories has a combined 35 years of experience in analytical chemistry, drug development and pharmaceutical sciences. Santé is committed to serving the hemp and CBD industry safeguarding all end-users through premium, high quality, and transparent testing. Santé Laboratories is currently holding the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation.
Regardless of phase in development and borrowing from relevant expertise in cannabinoid formulation sciences, Santé Laboratories can provide flexible drug delivery and manufacturing solutions to overcome solubility, room temperature stability, and absorption challenges to quickly transition into the clinic. In addition to leveraging the lipid-based nanoparticle delivery system, Santé Laboratories can perform rapid formulation screening studies which can be developed into candidate formulations to be evaluated in nonclinical and first-in-man studies.
Sante Labs is located in Austin, Texas. For more information on their lineup of services visit http://www.santelabs.com/ or contact them at 512-800-9117 and http://www.santelabs.com/
TPS refers to their business as “Your Crop’s Dieticians.” TPS Labs has been operating in Texas since 1938 and helping farmers in various fields of vegative growth during that time. TPS Labs are one of only a few labs in the world that still use CO2 extraction to test nutrient availability. This process is very labor-intensive but mimics how plant roots extract nutrients from the soil, stating that’s why it produces the best results.
Growers utilizing TPS Labs HEMPlan will have a complete picture of what soil nutrients are immediately available and what’s in reserve. Customized fertility recommendations will show customers how to correct deficiencies, and sustainable practice recommendations will show them how to unlock tied up nutrient reserves.
TPS Labs’ program gives growers an edge over the competition by providing advanced notification of possible heavy metal contamination in their soil. They perform a complete 32 element heavy metal analysis on your soil to make you aware of any potential problems.
TPS Labs is located Edinburg, Texas. For more information visit https://www.tpslab.com/hemplan or contact them at 956-383-0739 or info@tpslab.com
Veterans Scientific has the honor of winning the best Texas-based Hemp Ancillary Support or Services category for the 3rd Annual (2021) Texas Hemp Awards. VSL was co-founded by Garvin Beach, B.A.S. and is currently led by James W. Johnson Jr as the CEO. Both gentleman are Air Force Veterans working in the cannabis space today.
VSL offers potency testing, moisture content, heavy metals, aerobic plate count, staph auerues, water activity, pesticides, coliforms/E Coli, yeast/mold, terpenes, residual solvents salmonella SPP, mycotoxins on hemp/cbd products. VSL also offers a line of fiber testing on hemp products.
Veterans Scientific Laboratories is located in San Antonio, Texas. For more information visit http://www.vetscilabs.com/ or contact them at 210-682-9883 or info@vetscilabs.com
This year has been a wild ride for hemp, and cannabis in general in Texas and it’s not going to stop for a single moment.
Our 2021 year started off with a legislature that filed quite a few cannabis related bills in the House. Penalty reduction, medical cannabis, a hemp cleanup bill were the primary topics being pushed in the 87th regular session. Texas saw weak advancement on medical progress for cannabis, no penalty reduction measures signed off because of the desire to include delta-8 language, and the hemp cleanup bill failed for the exact same reason with even more debate on that delta-8 issue.
A committee hearing saw licensed hemp agencies and advocacy groups compared to cartels during hearings. Groups were visiting offices to prevent language designed to block delta-8 from inadvertently destroying the rest of the hemp market. And DSHS testified that they were under the presumption that delta-8 was illegal regardless of what the legislature did with the cleanup bill. Delta-8 was clearly all over the place and on most of the industry’s minds.
The majority of the industry moved forward after the regular session under the presumption that delta-8 avoided a death blow. Others had seen that DSHS was making their claim in the Senate committee hearing because they had held a hearing on the topic and practically nobody knew that it happened. That meeting was to review the controlled substances schedule of Texas to oppose the carved out exemptions. Their results were something that most industry talking heads and experts said, “flipped the definition of hemp on its head.”
There is definitely a problem with delta-8 in the industry and it’s not delta-8 itself that is the problem. Delta-8 is a result of failing to pass proper cannabis regulations while passing a hemp program with no cleanup bills federally or on a state level to address gaps in that program. Itself on its own is not a reason for danger. People creating products that they claim are delta-8, that are really delta-9 are an issue.
Think they aren’t? Wait until you have to be in front of a judge arguing that you were arrested for something that isn’t what is on the label and what was in the bottle is illegal in Texas, all while you can’t get a lawyer because it’s too expensive. People creating products that have byproducts in their extracts that are not conducive to healthy human living are also a problem. A CBD Oracle Lab Study article showed some Delta-8 products are 7700% over the legal delta-9 THC limit. That last sentence, google it and have your mind blown if you didn’t already know this.
Then the icing on the cake of these issues are lab results that have been falsified possibly by the product manufactures or another party down the line after lab tests were done. Products with metals in the original testing being eradicated from the lab result altogether, along with delta-9 thc being relabeled as delta-8 or completely removed from the results as well.Retailers using one lab COA for all of their products they ship and sell over the counter is another issue. A brownie should have its own COA, a gummy should have it’s own, and a tincture should have one as well that isn’t the same COA as the hemp product placed in the item. The item itself needs a COA, not just the substance infused into the product.
This still isn’t a need to remove delta-8 or any other THC isomer from the market. Removing it from the market is a knee jerk reaction, and one that shows no true thought was put into the decision. Elected officials can claim they have put lots of thought into this, but what does it mean if their thoughts are put aside for a few higher up figures, instead of representing their constituents?
What should the state of Texas do to set an example on how to wrangle this issue? Should we have labs that are audited by the state to ensure testing is done properly? Should we ensure that any product that is placed out for retail has a lab result from a Texas lab before it can be placed on shelves or sold to Texans if they have a physical location in state (we cannot do that to a product just passing through the state, as that would likely violate interstate commerce laws)? Should QR codes lead to a website presented database that is operated by the lab instead of the retailer or the wholesaler? How many counterfeit products could be weeded out of online systems and retail shelves that plan to sell to Texas residents?
This next legislative session we can expect to see varied interests coming out on all sides, including medical marijuana that are going to have input about this, and the hemp industry needs to be ready with answers and be ready to fight for their products. We are all in this together and we all need to push the industry forward together in a healthy and responsible fashion if we want this to work.
Russell: Joining us here on The Texas Hemp Show podcast number 59 again is Lisa Pitman from Zuber Lawler Attorneys. And Ms. Pitman is a pioneering figure in the emerging legalized hemp cannabis industry here in Texas, and Ms. Pitman is an appointee to the Texas Department of Agricultural Industrial Hemp Advisory Council. She’s also a non-resident fellow of the Drug Policy Program at Rice University. Ms. Pittman presented the American Bar Association’s first Marijuana Law CLE at its annual meeting in New York in 2017, resulting in the creation of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Cannabis Law and Policy, for which she is the chair in 2021-2022, award winning attorney and honors achievements. You are the woman of the hour, Lisa, telling us what’s going on with a lot of the questions that some of our not only retailers but farmers alike are probably have during this week with regards to the Delta-8 issue. And you have written numerous times for The Texas Reporter. My most memorable recent article, you guys did was the one regarding the DEA interim rule on the smokable hemp ban, maybe five or six months ago. But anyway, Lisa, welcome to the show. And how are you doing?
Lisa: Great. Thanks for having me.
Russell: Well, glad to get you back here on The Texas Henp Show. It’s been a good year, probably about a year, actually, since we had you on last. What do we know about the new decisions by DSHS? And they recently made this post on the website. Did the post make delta-8 illegal?
Lisa: Delta-8 was already illegal. We have known this stance of DSHS for a year now. They objected to the DEA interim final rule in August 2020, which was to conform the US Controlled Substances Act to the fact that the farm bill happened and the farm bill created an exception of the definition for marijuana for hemp. Now each state has its own Controlled Substances Act as well, and so the States can either fall in line with what the Feds do, or they can object to it. So in this case, the Health and Human Services Commissioner objected to it. Posted notice September, held a hearing in October. They later tweaked the definition of hemp in Texas and drastically changed the definition of Tetrahydrocannabinol in that they broadened it to include all THCs and analogs, et cetera. And they basically flipped the definition of hemp on its head. So where hemp, as we know the definition to be all of the derivatives and isomers and so forth. Everything deriving from hemp is legal on the definition of tetrahydrocannabinol. They changed it to where all THCs are illegal, even if they come from hemp unless it is the Delta-9 below .3%. And so that was finalized in January, and notice was placed in the Texas Register in March. But the unusual thing that they did was instead of posting it in text that you could search, they posted a picture of it. So that made it difficult for you to search it in the register, even if you knew about it and you were looking at it. So the question for the court now is was that sufficient notice or not, under the law? And then Additionally, you’re probably aware that DSHS testified in May the hearing on the Hemp bill to ban delta-8, stating once again their position that delta-8 is already illegal. And there’s been a few other memos. So it’s going to be interesting to see where the court comes down on this, because DSHS did really put out a lot of notices about it. You just had to really be paying close attention.
Russell: Lisa, is that common for them to put something out on a PDF format as the lawsuit or the motion for the TRO was put up, although denied by Judge Harger last Friday or Monday of this week. But is that an unusual procedure to post their position on something in the PDF format on a non-searchable way like that?
Lisa: It is kind of unusual. But I will point out that in the regulations governing testing of consumable hemp products, there’s a full microbial panel that you have to test for, and they just put that into a PDF and dumped that into all the other rules. So you would have had to know that, hey, there’s this little PDF file attached to the rules that you could search for online.
Jesse: So the Texas Hemp Federation, we know, filed a lawsuit based on this just last week and that the motion for the TRO was denied by this judge in the 261st district. Can you speak to that?
Lisa: Yes. So the denial of the TRO is no comment on the merits of the case. To get a temporary restraining order, you have to show an imminent emergency, right away harm. And that’s the most pressing thing. And so here DSHS argued. Well, this has been on the controlled substances list for 40 years. They might have been referring to THC delta-8 derived from marijuana. And as I mentioned, it’s been known for a year already, just positioned. So the fact that they just recently found out about it doesn’t create an emergency situation for which TRO is warranted. And a couple of other issues.
Lisa: To get a TRO, you also have to show that you cannot be compensated by money in any way. And because this case is about, well, my business is going to be impacted by this all that can be compensated by money. So that’s another reason why it didn’t qualify for TRO. So on November 5, they’ll have a full hearing on the merits where I expect the judge will consider these issues of law. It really is a matter of law it’s not something where there will be witnesses. Here’s what DSHS are required to do. Here’s what they did do. And what is that sufficient under the law or not?
What could we consider something that would be not compensable by financial means? Would arrest fit that description?
Lisa: It could I mean, then you’re dealing with the interplay of criminal law. The situation might be, let’s say you have an employee who is stealing all of your company secrets or holding something in your company hostage that prevents you from doing business or in a domestic situation, you’re fearing violence. It’s got to be like an actual emergency. But there’s nothing else that can be done other than to get what’s called injunctive relief, equitable relief. So it’s not something that can be compensated by money damages. It’s another picture.
Jesse: Thank you for clarifying that, Lisa,
Russell: The States that already have a cannabis program have been outlawing delta-8, I think as a fear or perhaps maybe a threatened fear of the emerging delta-8 market for the states that have prominent cannabis programs. We don’t have a recreational program in the Lone Star State, but do you feel like has that been a common thread with the other States that they quickly outlawed delta-8 for fear of infringing on their cannabis markets?
Lisa: That is the case in Colorado, for example, there’s a marijuana lobby, and they want dibs on what gets you high. And another issue is it undercuts their market, too, because if somebody can just go get this other thing and not go through and pay the marijuana prices and the marijuana taxes, then the marijuana business is losing out on all of that. In some other States where it’s commonly thought to be illegal, most of them is for a similar situation of Texas, it’s the definition of marijuana or the definition of THCs that makes it illegal. It’s only been in the past year. I guess that there’s several States that have specifically banned delta-8 on purpose. It wasn’t already illegal for that other reason,
Jesse: I want to ask with the bill we passed back in 2019 with that legislative session, is there any possibility that the language we put into law in Texas may have effect on this case with how we define THC from hemp?
Lisa: Well, there’s a little bit of a conflict there, and that’s where the confusion is. That’s why I said that how they change the definition of THC flips the definition of hemp in opposite ways. We’ll just have to see on that.
Jesse: Thank you.
Russell: Well, Texas has a very small medical program in the Lone Star State. Are there lawmakers applying pressure to DSHS to rule this way or kind of just if it was already stated? It’s just confusing that this has gotten into a bigger issue here recently because I don’t know that there’s anyone enforcing any of this, Lisa.
Lisa: Well, when hemp was legalized, it was under the impression that this was for grain, industrial uses, Cbd. No one at the time thought either at the federal level or at the state levels that chemists were going to figure out how to make psychoactive cannabinoids and come up with all of the things that they’ve come up with. And so there’s been a response to that, especially in the conservative anti-marijuana states. I think that Senator Perry made some comments in the hearing like, “Well, I’ll just take yank the whole hint program away. This isn’t what we intended.” There’s a little bit of that.
Russell: Lisa Pitman from Zuber Lawler, telling us what’s to make with everything going on with our delta-8 situation, delta-8 was always illegal, not recently illegal. It was always illegal. But what are retailers supposed to think, Lisa? I guess they just have to take this inventory off of their shelves now and stay the course. I guess that seems to be what I think a lot of I’m hearing is they’re just going to have to stop selling delta-8 for fear of enforcement.
Lisa: That’s a real risk. Honestly, though, it’s been a looming threat that’s been out there for a while. I already counsel my clients how to go about it very carefully and cautiously and how they source it, market it, present it and so forth.
Russell: Yeah, well, I wonder some of them are going to move on this and some aren’t. But I guess the real concern is the enforcement and that is in the responsibility of DPS. Have arrest been made that you know, of. Lisa, have you heard anything I heard maybe one in the state might have gotten one or two, but I don’t know if these are directly related to the DSHS. Recent posting.
Lisa: Yeah, there’s been a number of arrests made during the past year. Actually, most are headshops. And what happens there typically is a cop might come in undercover, take the products, test them, and then low and behold, these delta-8 products test hot over .3% THC or total THC. And so then that turns into a marijuana felony marijuana distribution charge. As far as folks just pull over on the side of the road, I get a lot of calls, obviously. And typically, once it’s shown that it’s hemp, they’re let go.
Russell: But they still spend a night in jail and get the charge. And ultimately, maybe the charges are dropped if they provide the proof that it’s a hemp product. But I always say that we need to create better laws for law enforcement officers. It really puts the law enforcement officers in a precarious state, don’t you think, Lisa? They’ve got enough things I think to deal with. And I don’t think prosecuting delta-8 possessions is really on the forefront of law enforcement right now.
Lisa: I don’t either. They’ve got to deal with fentanyl and meth coming across the border in record proportions and killing all of us. So that’s what they’re tasked with on the drug front. And as far as marijuana in the major Metropolitan cities, they’re not really arresting people for simple possession anymore. And it’s not really that they’ve softened on marijuana. It’s that a prosecutor can’t get a jury to put someone away anymore for a joint. And similarly, a prosecutor is not going to take a case you can’t win because they want to have a winning record. So with how complicated the law is here to try to explain that to a jury, get a jury to understand and improve that the retailer knew the law, too, and chose to disregard it and have that criminal intent to sell it anyway. That’s going to be really hard for a prosecutor to pull off. Dps is charged with public safety all over the entire state on a lot of matters, and I would think that if they just focused on this, there might be some backlash over it. Why are you wasting your time and money on that? When we have so much more important things?
Russell. Their role has been protecting the border to some degree in recent months, DPS as well. So that’s the thing. And that’s the weird part of all of this is that will they really enforce anything on this in the meantime?
Lisa: Yeah, it would be a headache for a cop to pursue and a headache to enforce. I’ve been doing this since 2015 and under the 2014 farm bills. So I’ve seen the evolution of the legalization of hemp in Texas and cops being confused about hemp and marijuana, especially rural. They can barely tell the difference there and know what to do there, let alone let’s get even more granular into the delta-8.
Jesse: So from our understanding, there’s going to be another hearing on November 5 that deals with a temporary injunction. What would you say happens next with that? How does that work?
Lisa: So that’s going to be more like a trial on the merits where the judge is going to consider what the plaintiff is alleging, what DSHS did, DSHS do what they were supposed to do or not, and the judge will make a decision there. And then a temporary injunction is also an extraordinary remedy for the judge to say okay, we’re not going to allow enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act. That’s going to be unusual. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do there.
Russell: Well, we’re all following this, and I know it’s a big concern for the retail side of the business that was already making these products available with impunity. They were making these products available anyway,
Lisa: I wanna follow up about something earlier about the enforcement, that’s another issue in the lawsuit is whether the right parties are in the lawsuit. Because DSHS made the rule but DSHS doesn’t enforce the Controlled Substances Act. So can the court enjoin DSHS? DSHS isn’t the one that enforces it. You know, it’s DPS that needs to be injured from enforcing it. So that’ll be another interesting, interesting question.
Crumbled weed in the shape of Texas and a joint. (series)
Jesse: I know that one of the DSHS statements says that they don’t create regulation. Who technically would we say created this rule then if it wasn’t DSHS, who claims because they put up that we don’t make these regulations, I guess who should it be pointed towards for the proper party
Lisa: As far as the drug schedules?
Jese: Correct.
Lisa: That’s done by the Health and Human Services Commissioner.
Russell: That’s right. The Commissioner can make that.
Lisa: Yeah. In fact, if you look at the pleadings, there’s a footnote by the state that takes you to the web page that shows all of the adjustments to the schedules that the health Commissioner has made. It’s very common. They are always putting things on, taking things off the schedule all the time.
Jesse: Thank you for that. Thank you for that input.
Russell: Well, any final thoughts, Lisa, as we close here on this segment with you, we had you scheduled months ago on this show just to have you on again. And then low and behold, all this kind of happens. And this has become a hot topic with delta-8 in the last week or so. Any final thoughts as we look towards November 5 and seeing the results of the hearing.
Lisa: Yeah. What’s really changed is the public awareness. Once a big fuss was made about this, in a way, I feel like it’s kind of sabotaging because before this, this product was flying under the radar quite nicely and without law enforcement, as we have said. And so now it has been brought to the forefront of everyone’s attention, including law enforcement, including DSHS who was flooded by phone calls, which is not the best way to go about things. Really. Now we’re in more uncertain times than we were before. Like I said, there’s always been that looming threat, but it was just kind of out there.
Russell: Well, all of us in the space, Lisa, within the hemp or CBD community, we’ve all kind of danced around the delta-8 issue, but all of a sudden now on 6:30 News, KXAN is talking about this, and you’re right. It’s a hot topic right now that the rest of the public that doesn’t follow this, traditionally, this is all being like you said, brought in (the light) and the media is really covering all of this now.
Lisa: Yes sadly, they certainly are, giving lots of interviews.
Russell: I bet you have. I think I saw you on KXAN last week one day.
Lisa: Yes you might have.
Jesse: Was it KVUE?
Russell:You were on on KVUE24, maybe even KXAN. But you are getting all of the calls. You are the Perry Mason of cannabis in Texas here, Lisa Pittman. How can folks get in touch with you, Lisa? Just to learn more about the good work that you do. And I know you’re fielding all these interviews with the media as this delta-8 thing gets going as a hot topic. But how can folks learn more about your work Lisa?
Lisa: You could email me at Lpittman@zuberlawler.com or the best way is to follow me on LinkedIn.
Russell: That’s right.
Lisa: Very careful content on things that I think are kind of within a narrow scope of what’s of interest to us in Texas and the south on all things cannabis and psychedelics.
Rusell: Well, it’s an exciting time, I think, as we move into the next phase of Texas lawmakers, we got a whole year before the next session gets going. It’s an exciting time, Lisa, to see what the Lone Star State. A lot of people are watching what Texas does with regards to cannabis in the long run, and we’ve made some progress here, but I think we still got some work to chew, but it’s deciding time to be in this space here in Texas. Definitely.
Lisa: It sure is. I have high hopes for 2023 for a more full fledged medical program.
Russell: Well, thank you so much for your time. Lisa Pittman joining us here on the Texas Hemp Show and you can check her out. Follow Lisa on her LinkedIn page. You will get plenty of information. She’s always got something great she’s posting on there and keeping us informed and educated on cannabis here in the Lone Star State. Thank you so much, Lisa.
One Texas cannabis activism group has amassed quite a following in their state and has even caught the attention of national players.
As the Deputy Director of the Texas Cannabis Collective, what exactly is the TCC is a question people have been asking me recently. The easy answer is that it is a project aimed at changing the cannabis laws in Texas and doing so by distribution of information for the voting public about the state of cannabis affairs in Texas. The true technical answer is something much longer.
The Texas Cannabis Collective came to be a thing in 2016 by Austin Zamhariri
out of Dallas, Texas. At first the concept started as a Facebook page. As time went on Austin slowly got a website together with a few friends in the cannabis activism space. From there the site started publishing articles about their experiences and views on the Texas legislature. The first article to go up was in late December of 2018 by Austin.
At the beginning of the site’s history Austin touched on things such as the fact that one could be arrested for possessing CBD oil at the time, veterans weighing on medical marijuana and approaches of legislative leadership to cannabis bills. The first 6 months really took off from the 86th legislative session of 2019 providing plenty of information on the changing landscape of Texas. The federal farm bill had just passed towards the end of 2018 and gave Texas room to grow with a new hemp program. Austin’s current wife Sarah and current writer Josh Kasoff were pumping out articles with Austin.
Toward the end of session El Paso NORML director Colt Demorris started contributing as well. Colt brought a distinct view from west Texas during his prime time of writing with
TCC. El Paso being one of the first cities to bring prohibition of cannabis to reality, Colt shined a light on the topic in the town, and was able to give an insight to another state. Colt works at a dispensary across the state line in New Mexico and was able to help Texas patients get the info needed for out of state patients to participate in the NM program. This is also the district which state Rep Joe Moody covers and DeMorris was able to occasionally get insights to legislative goals with cannabis.
June of 2019 was when Jesse joined the TCC as a writer. Jesse had been writing about the legislative side of things on his own site and was invited to write for the TCC. It’s almost the same thing for him writing for the Texas Hemp Reporter.He started with writing about how we would have to research how to objectively measure impairment from cannabis and how bills on a federal level were moving along. After several months of writing for TCC, Jesse became the web administrator for the website and did a complete redesign it. Then, roughly about the start of COVID in 2020 saw Jesse also take on the role of Managing Editor.
In June of 2020 the TCC launched its own social network community called Community.txcannaco.com. At the time Facebook and other social networks were facing heavy scrutiny from selling user data. On top of that, even to this day Facebook and its subsidiaries along with Twitter and the like are not fond of allowing users to speak openly about their cannabis consumption.
The rules of the software providers for the social network were that no personal information about members and no posted information by members could be shared or sold to a third party. That community is still up and running to this day and serves also as a backup if Facebook decides to nuke the scene, which isn’t uncommon with cannabis pages.
TCC has remained active on reporting the smokable hemp ban case from its beginnings and reported heavily on the 2021 Texas 87th legislative session. Whether it was the filing of bills testimony at the capitol, or even floor hearings, TCC was reporting in person pretty much every step of the way. It even got to the point where national reporting site Marijuana Moment was following the TCC live streams at the capitol to gain information on what was transpiring.
In June of 2021 TCC decided to officially become a non-profit organization. TCC had officially started lobbying within offices alongside the likes of TXNORML and Texans for Responsible Marijuana policy at the capitol. The organization wanted to make the paperwork official and become as transparent as possible, so that process began to raise funds to create that official entity on paper.
TCC officially held its first meeting on a monthly basis, in June of 2021. The second meeting was the official kickoff party to Lucky Leaf Dallas 2021, and recently held its third meeting on August 11. TCC will be taking a break for the month of September as uncertainty has arisen given the resurgence of COVID and mask mandates in Dallas County. It’s possible that the next monthly meeting will be a virtual meeting.
TCC hopes that it will be able to not just inform constituents from this point forward, but lawmakers in the state of Texas as well. IT wishes to put businesses that are working towards creating a proper business environment for both businesses and consumers in front of the public and doing alongside other publications and activist groups within the great (it’s a big place) state of Texas. TCC plans to launch its own podcast titled Lonestar Collective within the near future.
Anybody wishing to find TCC online can find them on Facebook at @txcancollective Instagram @txcannabiscollective and Twitter @txcannaco.
Richard Anthony “Cheech” Marin is an American activist, actor, musician, art collector, stand-up comedian and writer who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong.
Cheech talks with Russell and Jesse about his CBD brand “Cheech’s Stash” and what projects he has been involved in this year.
Mallory Harrington serves as the hemp banking compliance officer at TFNB Your Bank for Life in Waco, Texas. Our guest discusses the federal compliance rules, lending options, insurance, and SBA programs for the growing Hemp space in the Lone Star State.
Jesse and Russell work the booth at the Lucky Leaf Expo in Dallas. Several folks stop by for the podcast recording. Todd Bean from Imperial CBD Extractions, Jeremy Bigham from Waymaker Labs, John Kerns of New Bloom Labs and Jake from Drops of Life talk to the Texas Hemp Show.
DAY 2
Russell & Jesse are Live from the Lucky Leaf Expo in Dallas and the two Interview Mike from Epac Flexible Packaging as well as Ron from Cosmic Cowboy Extractions. Lucky Leaf Expo. Lucky Leaf Expo Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. 500 West Las Colinas Boulevard. Welcome to the Cannabis/Hemp Expo in Dallas. This event focuses on everything you need to grow your business—suppliers, mechanical, attorneys, growers, distilleries, and lighting companies. The Texas Hemp Reporter was there at booth #122 in 2021.
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Russell gives an update on the magazines that were released this past July 4th weekend. Profiling Lucky Leaf Expo and many of the articles and stories featured in the new July magazine. The Lucky Leaf Expo is previewed along with the Southern Hemp Expo and a preview of CBD Seed Labs podcast # 40 coming up later in the week.
See you in Dallas July 8-9-10 stop by Booth # 122 and pick up a few copies of the magazine
Russell tries out a new mixer this week with the “Podtrack P8” ( so levels are experimental at best) Coleman returns to the conversation with Jesse to talk about Texas Farming, Lucky Leaf Dallas, and Brite Ideas calls in to talk about their business opportunities. Also, pick up a copy this week of the Texas Hemp Reporter Magazine.
