Keeping The Hemp Industry Strong
MedaLeaf Founder Believes Texas Lawmakers Will Keep Hemp Industry Strong
As the 89th Texas Legislative session approaches, William Oboyle, founder of MedaLeaf, said he doesn’t believe lawmakers will move to take the state’s hemp industry backward.
“Texas is going to make decisions on how hemp is going to be regulated, so when you start looking at how many small businesses there are that have evolved to where they’re at, the state of Texas has a great responsibility to small business owners to continue to have them thrive,” he said.
Oboyle notes that Texas is historically a business-friendly state.
“The genie can’t be put back in the bottle unless you want to close thousands of small businesses,” he said, adding “We need to put it on the shelves and tax it.”
Tax revenue will likely be a major consideration for lawmakers, as the state’s cannabusiness revenue surpassed $8 billion in 2023 (according to the 2023 U.S. National Cannabinoid Report by Whitney Economics).
When it comes to regulations, Oboyle predicts lawmakers may move to enact extra taxes or packaging regulations that help keep children safe.
“If they were going to take it off the shelf, they should have done it two years ago before it got to this point,” he said.
Oboyle: Lawmakers Should Study Kratom
In regards to public safety, Oboyle said, “The real thing that should be regulated is not THCA and hemp — it’s kratom. Kratom is an opioid antagonist. You get sick when you get off of it, just like opiates, and it’s been on the shelf for 15 years in Texas, and no one has said anything. And it will ruin your organs over time. You can take hemp every day, and all it will do is better your health. Don’t take away a plant that can help everybody here, and start looking at the things that matter like regulating kratom.”
Oboyle speaks on kratom from personal experience, as he tried it to help alleviate past struggles with opiate and heroin addiction. He said he tried kratom with the assumption it would curb his withdrawals but said it had the same addicting effects. However, he credits CBD for helping him stay sober.
“There’s a lot of people in the sober community that have a lack of education that are being told that CBD is not something you can do being in recovery from hard drugs, and it just couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “There are certain people who get out of addiction, and they can stay clean. But there’s certain things that happen to your brain during addiction that you can’t fix on your own, and prescriptions from doctors are only going to make it worse. Elderberry gummies and full-spectrum tinctures are cornerstones to recovery. They help you process through your emotions.”
Another common misconception, according to Oboyle, is that recreational hemp use is mostly limited to people ages 18-35.
“Our average customer is like 55 to 60 years old, and we have a ton of people in their 80s who come in once a week, and the reason is mostly for sleep, aches and pains,” he said. “It’s so much fun watching an 84-year-old woman come in and buy a bottle of full spectrum gummies and a quarter of THCA flower. They’re happy, and they’re jovial. They’re thankful.”
