Michael Weinstein is tapping into hemp’s healing power by crafting savory CBD-infused concoctions
After spending more than a quarter-century as a chef in the Dallas area, Michael Weinstein is making a name for himself as an award-winning hemp chef.
“When my dog got diagnosed with arthritis in both of his back legs, I infused (CBD) into some oil for my dog,” he said. “I started noticing a difference in him getting up and down and thought, ‘Maybe I could use my food knowledge in other ways.’”
His belief in the healing power of CBD was strengthened after his mother used a topical on her back.
“The first time she put it on, the pain subsided on her back,” he said. “Stuff like that makes you go, ‘Hmmm … maybe there is something going on with this.’”
Weinstein said he attended several Cannabis Cup events, and when Texas legalized hemp in 2019, he decided to monetize his knowledge of hemp-infused cuisine. Currently, his product line includes a variety of dessert salsas and caramels, as well as an edible intimacy serum that he said helps to ease menstrual cramps.
“I didn’t want to make gummies because they’re too trendy. I personally don’t even like gummies,” he said.
Weinstein uses a commercial kitchen to create all of his products and gets them third-party tested. He said takes pride in the quality and cleanliness of his concoctions, as they do not contain preservatives, food coloring or high fructose corn syrup.
“You can read the ingredients without using a dictionary,” he said. “High fructose corn syrup has led to the obesity of America because it’s a cheap sweetener. Why not use real sweeteners like sugar and honey?”
Currently, Weinstein is educating people at cooking classes, where he teaches attendees how to make specialty items — like CBD-infused deviled eggs.
“What I’m trying to teach people is if they want to go to the shows and buy flower, and they don’t want to smoke it, how can they infuse it and turn it into a food product? I try to keep it pretty simple and not over-complicated, as we chefs can get complicated with some of the recipes we make. I’m trying to gear (the classes) for the home cook.”
As far as upcoming products, Weinstein didn’t want to give too much away about what’s in the pipeline, but he offered a few hints.
“It’s kind of like a cracker or vanilla wafer, and it’s savory as far as texture. But there’s also cheese involved,” he said.
Dogs. We feed them, love them and keep them healthy. But what about the things we can’t control? A thunderstorm or the sound of fireworks outside of your house could make for a frenetic evening for your pet. You want to do whatever you can to soothe them.
Tracy Fleming, owner and operator of Beautiful Me Skincare Studio in Austin, tells us about her best friend, Snoodles.
“We got Snoodles when he was just barely old enough that you can adopt them. He was not even a foot long, you put him on the ground and he would literally JUMP over grass that was 3 inches long, like he was a little rabbit. He’s ¾ long-haired chihuahua and ¼ Shih Tzu. He is so sweet, he loves everybody, even children. We give him 50 power-kisses every day on his cheek and he’s not disturbed, he just kind of rolls his eyes. I was a single mother and I was looking for a dog. My daughter wanted a chihuahua she could dress up because we had just watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua. When we got him, his name was Snickerdoodle. He was the only boy left and he had the most personality of all of them.
“Snoodles freaks out when there’s thunder, lightning, storms, any kind of loud noises, even dings and beeps. Anything like that freaks him out, he shakes like a leaf! I mean, I’m talking tongue out, drooling, eyes completely dilated, shaking, crazy. We use a hemp extract from HealthQuesthemp.com, owned by Austinite Brendan Findlay. What’s cool is that they do CO2
extraction and they have a 3rd party that tests the profile and potency of all of the products. Their farm is in Colorado and everything is grown without pesticides. He really benefited from the product. We were under full-cannon, fireworks, holding him, and he wasn’t even shaking! That was when I knew that stuff was special. We just put a few drops of the liquid tincture on his paw and he licks it up. It takes about 10-15 minutes to kick in and then he starts chilling out and relaxing. What’s great about the tincture is that you can put it on any type of dog treat, or in their food or water, but putting it on their paw guarantees that they’re going to consume it. It’s a natural reaction for the dog to want to get it off by licking it.
“He’s 11 years old now. He lives with four cats who clean him, and he takes care of their ears, it is so cute! He is happy and very spoiled, of course!”
Appropriately enough on 4/20/2021, MTV launched the documentary Going to Pot: The Highs and Lows of It on the streaming service Paramount +. As a lighter infotainment piece, the film touches on the “411 on 4/20” exploring cannabis based accounts throughout it’s history as well as debunks some popular myths and questions one may have about the plant.
Filmmakers and co-producers Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato (World of Wonder Productions) co-directed the 73 minute documentary which is broken up into smaller vignettes of pot-based programming featuring accounts on everything from the history of the 4/20 lexicon to answering questions like “Can I really get a contact high?” into mini-biopics of notable marijuana advocates in pop culture like University of Texas and NFL alum Ricky Williams.
It plays out more like a suburban anti-propaganda education piece than a highly informational look into marijuana but aptly serves its purpose as a documentary showcasing much of the outline of pot FAQs that have generally plagued our popular culture in the past. Not to mention, it’s backed by a strong advisory panel including psychopharmacologists and integrative psychologists, cannabis attorneys, and investigative journalists which lends more credibility to the facts presented to those newer to the matter.
Writer Jim Fraenkel brings a lot of his MTV True Life influence to Going to Pot, following the topic of weed through a brief portrait of its existence andrefiningmore of the impact and positive influence it has had in it’s reintroduction. While a cannabis connoisseur might not gain a lot of new information in the hour-ish view, the featured pot personas show a firsthand glance into the innovation in the industry and where the room for expansion lies with the continuation of positive documentation of cannabis culture such as this.
The Spring Edition of the Texas Hemp Reporter profiles Texas Lab Testing that we recommend , a History of the 420 in pop-culture, The East Austin CBD Crawl, CBD & Pets, meet the new faces of the Texas Legislature. Will a “Changing of the Guard” improve cannabis law reform in the Lone Star State? Also banking and Hemp, Actor Jason Gann of “Wilfred”, Dispensary Etiquette, the top 10 labs you should know about in Texas and more.
3THE NEW ISSUE WILL BE AVAILABLE ACROSS THE STATE AFTER APRIL 3RD
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.
TPS Lab, a mainstay of the Rio Grande Valley and the farming industry for over eight decades, wants to help hemp and marijuana growers achieve success and higher yield of crops. TPS Lab President Frank Schultz explains the importance of research and patience as many new farmers and entrepreneurs dip their toes into this emerging field.
Texas Hemp Reporter: How did you begin in the field of soil testing, can you give us a bit of your origin story?
TPS Lab: The lab was established in 1938 by Dr. George Schultz (no relation). I am the third-generation president and conservator of an 80-plus year-old institution, starting as a client in the early 2000s.
THR: You have clients all over the globe, but here in Texas, what would you say is the single, biggest challenge a farmer will face in terms of crop health?
TPSL: Education. We often get calls from people who say they are interested in growing hemp but it emerges during the conversation that they have done little to no research into the plant, its unique requirements, possible markets or the industry in general. Unfortunately, we have seen and heard firsthand accounts from people who lost millions of dollars due to lack of experience or faulty research. Some “bet the farm” and lost it.
Even experienced growers, from gardeners to well-established farmers, often do not appreciate the costs, infrastructure required and especially the labor-intensive nature of growing CBD industrial hemp. (We saw a reduction in hemp acres grown with our clients in 2020 from 2019, largely due to the realization of the labor required.) Additionally, experienced growers of other crops are accustomed to few changes in plant varieties and genetics year after year.
However, new hemp genetics are being developed continuously to enhance oil percentages and characteristics, and suitability for specific growing conditions and regions. This means that a grower must constantly be on the lookout for new varieties to better suit his growing conditions and accommodate dynamic market demands for the latest desired CBD isolates.
A BIG mistake some of our clients made was in retaining marijuana consultants to advise them on growing industrial hemp. With the understanding that genetics is where it all starts and is key to the capacity of cannabinoid production and composition (or lack thereof), the growing practices for each are quite opposite in several ways:
Money bag on the background of agricultural crops in the hand of the farmer. Agricultural startups. Profit from agribusiness. Lending and subsidizing farmers. Grants and support. Land value and rent.
● With marijuana, the varietal genesis is typically C. indica L., due to its penchant for producing high levels of THC. Plant stress is purposely induced during the middle and latter stages of development to further stimulate the production of THC. This is done by limiting fertilization, water, light or causing any other factor to induce stress.
● C. sativa L. is the varietal genesis of industrial hemp and typically has a lesser penchant for producing THC. However, THC production is still stimulated by plant stress. Accordingly, it is essential to limit stress in order to limit THC content to 0.3% or less to have expectations of a harvestable crop – even for sativa.
The good news is that we can do much to limit stress and encourage production of CBD by providing balanced nutrition at critical times during plant development and to at an extent, managing water. We can even compensate, to degrees, for other stressful conditions such as weather. With marijuana, stress is encouraged.
But there’s more: Because you get a harvestablecrop does not mean that you get a sellablecrop! Over the past several years, we’ve seen processor’s demands increase for percentage of CBD and even for particular isolates of CBD (CBG, CBN, etc.) – and now, ∆-8 THC (in Texas). The appropriate genetics, stress management, cultivation practice, and correct, timed nutrition and water are the answer.
THR: Can you describe your operation in Edinburg?
TPSL: We are a consulting agronomic laboratory. We’ve been in the same location for decades and have current technology analytical instruments. We are open to the public and encourage growers large and small to bring in their samples or visit with one of our consultants to get answers to their toughest questions.
The main and unique features of the lab are its proprietary methods of soil and compost testing, emulating the way plants take up nutrients in any soil type and calibrated against actual plant uptake (Plant Natural® Soil & Compost Tests); its Ask The Plant® plant sap analyses based on proprietary plant nutrition standards and its What’s In Your Water Becomes Part Of Your Soil® irrigation and spray water analyses for quality management.
Test results alone have little meaning to most growers, so our main product is the experience and ability to interpret lab data and provide our clients with specific interpretations and recommendations for their specific crop and their particular growing circumstances. Accordingly, every test and recommendation is custom and written by a senior consultant – no “shotgun” approach.
THR: Is Plant Natural Innovations your company as well? Did you formulate the CSL+ Organic Fertilizer?
TPSL: Plant Natural® Innovations was established as an independent company to provide formulations of some recently-available and highly-beneficial products which are not generally recognized by growers. The lab’s most senior consultants proposed, developed and designed CSL+ and other organically- based products based upon their decades-long experience in soil health and plant nutrition. Product lines will expand as development continues.
THR: Can you tell us about your “Ask the Plant” program?
TPSL: The lab began testing plant sap (petioles) in 1964, making it an early pioneer in private-lab plant testing. One of my predecessors, Dr. Albin Lengyel of Phoenix, Arizona, started testing plant sap in cotton in the late ’40s and later extended it to many other crops around the country. Another legacy from Dr. Lengyel is the Plant Natural® Soil & Compost Tests.
Originally, Ask The Plant® (ATP) was intended to be a season-long “dynamic” nutrition program for growers to allow them to apply appropriate nutrients in appropriate amounts at critical stages of crop development for best ROI by periodic in-season testing, based upon the physiology of the crop. However, we get many calls sometime during the season from growers who are having serious problems and need help immediately.
Money with sheet of marijuana close-up on background of one hundred dollars with an artificial ray of light, high quality image. Thematic photos of hemp and cannabis
Accordingly, much of ATP has evolved into “911” calls concerning physical crop damage (such as by wind, sandstorm or hail) or sudden manifestations of insects, disease or nematodes. We have had remarkable success in guiding our clients past these, and on to doing well by the end of the season.
By the way, HEMPlan® is a comprehensive, specialized and extended version of ATP, exclusively for industrial hemp growers, based, in part, upon a decade of experience with Canadian growers, plus decades-long experience in other exotic and high-value crops around the world.
Again, HEMPlan®, as is ATP, is intended to be a pre-season-to-harvest program, but as with ATP, we get calls from growers sometime into the season about problems they’re having. Unhappily, some call us too late for us to be able to salvage them.
THR: Do you have a success story you’d like to share of a farm you’ve been able to help?
TPSL: Yes. Some years ago, we were working with sugar beet, potato and mustard (plus other) growers in the Pacific Northwest – fairly high-value crops at the time. They had been relying on state extension agents and their local co-ops for advice for years. And it had stopped working – to the extent that several generations-old family farms were facing soon bankruptcy.
Our VP of Research, formerly a tenured professor at the University of Maine, thence a Senior Research Scientist with the USDA – ARS, Weslaco, went on a field trip, together with our COO, to visit with some of our clients up there. He told me that as a [cloistered] academic, it was the first time he ever visited with people who were the end-recipients of and directly impacted by his research.
One day, he was sitting in the kitchen of a farmer, whose farm was in dire straits, when his wife leaned over and whispered, “please help us!”, our VP said that he suddenly realized that what he did seriously impacted real people. Before, it had been simply academic.
This farm, and one other facing bankruptcy, and others did well by the end of the season.
It wasn’t magic – it was simply applying long-established agronomic principles combined with recent discoveries which seem to have been ignored or forgotten by the institutions.
THR: What do you enjoy most about your work?
TPSL: I really enjoy hearing the success stories and how we help improve the clients’ circumstances – sometimes even to the extent of saving their farms.
All considered, it’s not a bad way to live.
For more information on TPS Lab’s custom plant, soil, water and other testing and consulting services, visit TPSLab.com or call 956-383-0739. They can also be visited at 4915 W Monte Cristo Rd, Edinburg, Tx 78541.
For more information on Plant Natural® Innovations plant nutrition products, visit Plant-Natural.com or call 956-380-4050.
J Heart CBD is a woman-owned CBD franchise built out of passion and service from the heart of one Austin entrepreneur.
Connie Hurley opened her first location in Cedar Park in August of 2019 after investing in the cannabis industry and discovering the growing market for CBD in Texas. She has since opened another location in January 2021 on North Lamar Blvd and continues to make natural health and wellness her business. With 30 years experience as an entrepreneur in a variety of fields, including a handful of coffee shops and wholesale distribution on the island of Guam, she made the decision to sell off those businesses to relocate stateside and ultimately invest in this other popular plant pouring her heart into helping fill other people’s cups in life through plant medicine.
Her vision for the business has been to provide products and educate consumers on the benefits of CBD and how it improves quality of life for those who suffer with chronic pain, anxiety and sleep issues. Connie takes great pride in vetting all of her 25+ vendors and offering a line of premium products to her customers. J Heart offers a wide variety of tinctures, edibles, smokables, topicals and even a pet line with choices in full spectrum, broad spectrum, isolate and delta 8.
The storefront and staff of J Heart CBD is something else she takes great pride in. With a clean, welcoming space, the business caters to introducing a wide variety of customers to CBD products and the staff is committed to taking time to explain all of the benefits and make an educated decision on the best choice possible for their needs. Employees undergo consistent training and education on all of the up to date research on hemp products so that they are dedicated to providing the utmost service to their clients and all have a passion to help change lives. Another unique feature to the store blends two of Connie’s passions – coffee and CBD. Their in-house espresso bar provides customers with a choice of CBD, or non, brews to purchase while they browse, serving as another comfort of service.
As the general public continues to gain acceptance for CBD and plant medicine, personal anecdotes of success remain the greatest avenue of change that is pushing the industry forward on a larger scale. Connie and her staff always welcome and share personal stories from their clients in their CBD journey and the story behind the name is a touching commemoration for Connie herself of her daughter, Jessica, whom she lost 8 years ago to drug overdose. The path of natural medicine she took following her loss has been in the spirit of her daughter and Connie is currently seeking out local Austin addiction centers to give back to in community involvement in her name through J Heart.
The 2 locations can be found at 908 W. Whitestone Blvd Unit 300 in Cedar Park and 6719 N. Lamar Blvd. in Austin as well as online at jheartcbd.com
Dan Herer grew up watching his father’s activism but it wasn’t until his father’s death that he decided to enter the business. He is the founder of the Jack Herer Foundation and Herer Group, where he is conducting research, developing products and producing cannabis. Herer Group is a corporate umbrella overseeing vertically integrated companies in the California cannabis market. The Group manages Herer Distribution, Herer Manufacturing, and Herer Labs & Research. All divisions are based in Santa Cruz, California.
Tune in to this weeks show for a historical overview of the Legacy of “Jack Herer” as the Emperor’s Son follows his Father’s calling by advocating for Hemp and change in the US Drug policies and education the planet about the many gifts and wonders of natures greatest plant.
Jack Herer, sometimes called the “Emperor of Hemp”, was an American cannabis rights activist and the author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a book—in 2020 in its fourteenth edition
Grassroots and Hemp Seeds: How Traditional Political Action Has Failed TX Cannabis
With the 87th Texas legislature having come and gone without any particularly exciting progress on cannabis, it is clear that efforts on selling the conservative voting bloc on legalizing it have not been as fruitful as we might have hoped. Sessions come and go, and while other states are generating billions of dollars in tax revenue through recreational cannabis markets, funding education and social programs, and generally not being the worst to their voting constituencies, Texas continues to push the bar on careless legislating.
It might be fulfilling, even entertaining, to blame the legislature and the politicians, but keep in mind we vote them in, and remember this when considering whose name to tick off next time. Willie Nelson for governor anyone? He does claim to have begun the “Teapot Party”, but let’s hope he doesn’t take to tossing bales of cannabis into a harbor should Texas ever decide to legalize and tax the agricultural commodity.
Cannabis is Not from California, Nor Will It Turn Texas Into California
marijuana leaves cannabis plants a beautiful background
Texas does not have to become California to make progressive steps towards generating billions of dollars in tax revenue. Instead of hippie weed, why not country wildflower? It’s all about framing and packaging, and given that some of the worst political presents in history were wrapped in the most wonderful cutest little boxes that the nation just could not wait to tear open, why not repackage the cannabis market for the Texan psyche?
The drastic leaps backwards concerning women’s reproductive rights notwithstanding, the 87th Legislature of Texas denied cancer patients and veterans the ability to purchase cannabis with sufficient levels of THC to do what the entire purpose of medical marijuana is to do: provide adequate levels of THC to impactfully support treatment.
If the government were to limit the amount of alcohol allowed in beer to ineffective levels, or deny sufficient amounts of cheese to populate the space between patties and buns on a Big Mac, the nation would explode like a powder keg into a second civil war, complete with patriotic psychedelic fireworks (more on psychedelics in a future article).
So how do we get the conservatives on board and actually make some godforsaken progress this next legislative session? Pitch them not on the lifestyle benefits of pot, but on the economic value of the complete cannabis plant. Hemp is cannabis. Hemp is legal, employing thousands of citizens and generating millions in taxable revenue for good ‘ol Tejas at this very moment.
The mainstream asks, “so how is hemp legal and weed is illegal if it comes from the same plant?” Great question, mainstream, let’s draw a parallel they’ll all understand.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Analogy Pushes the Dials and Doesn’t Just Run the Wheels
Alcohol is to wheat what marijuana is to hemp and nicotine is to tobacco: an agricultural byproduct. All three are intoxicants, all three can alter one’s consciousness, although only two kill hundreds of thousands of Americans annually, the two that are legal. Why again is marijuana illegal?
It’s Already Here, Why Not Tax It and Save on Useless Law Enforcement Efforts?
Cannabis herb and leaves for treatment.Buds. Skunk. cbd, hemp buds and money,Closeup of assorted American banknotes.World economic crisis associated with coronovirus.
The character played by actress Michelle Rodriguez in the film “Machete” by director Robert Rodriguez says something like “We didn’t hop the border, the border hopped us.” The historical and political poignancy of this quote from an otherwise grindhouse feature of ultraviolence and Danny Trejo-driven awesomeness aside, cannabis in a similar manner has already transcended the borders of Texas. We have legal hemp, and if you might be looking for a product of the cannabis plant containing more than the legally allowed .3% THC, you likely know a person, or know a person who knows a person. You dig? It’s around, man, don’t be a square and it just might find you.
Marijuana Enforcement Measures are Exceptionally Discriminatory
As reported by the New York Times, Willie Nelson was caught by canine officers in the West Texas Town of Sierra Blanca with a quarter ounce of “high-grade, domestically grown marijuana”. Way to keep it ‘Merican Willie. The Hudspeth County Attorney on the case, Kit Bramblett, stated to local publication The Big Bend Sentinel, “I’m gonna let him plead, pay a small fine, and he’s gotta sing ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’ with his guitar in the courtroom. I ain’t gonna be mean to Willie Nelson.”
Now, substitute out “Willie Nelson” for “a Black teenager in a hooded sweatshirt”, and take a moment to envision what might have happened to our theoretical teenager if caught in West Texas with a quarter ounce of “high-grade, domestically grown marijuana”. I think it is safe to assume the canines and officers would have taken a different approach during the arrest, and the prosecutor would not be asking them to sing ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’ in the courtroom then let them go with a small fine.
Making the Effort? Reaching Out to Your Representatives
While you might think that the hemp companies generating hundreds of millions annually and their lobbyists will sway the minds of the Texas Legislature to legalize marijuana, don’t. It hasn’t happened yet, while recreational cannabis has been proving it value across the nation for nearly a decade at this point. While niche progress is made here and there to support commerce and the interests of the companies paying the lobbyists, as with the smokable hemp ban, broad political change takes broad effort on behalf of the body politic. Us.
Reaching out to your local representatives and communicating your position in support of legalizing recreational cannabis might be helpful. Before voting, determine who supports cannabis, and ask them what they plan to do in support of it if they make it into office. Vote with your voice, and inform your choices with hard data not glossy propaganda. Instagram is not news, but do slide into people’s DMs whom you find attractive, that’s what it’s for they tell me.
Money with sheet of marijuana close-up on background of one hundred dollars with an artificial ray of light, high quality image. Thematic photos of hemp and cannabis
Recreational cannabis is not far away from Texas, in fact there’s a market just above us in Colorado, and quite a bit of products diverted from other markets already here. Whether or not Texas decides to do what is best for the citizens of the state depends upon us. Or not. In all likelihood the Fed will legalize cannabis before Texas ever does, so advocate and vote, or don’t, it ultimately might not make any difference in the end. Just do you, live long and prosper, and maybe at some point you can legally buy a joint at a recreational dispensary in Texas to get over the futility of it all while allowing a moment in time to go up in smoke.
South Austin is known for its food trucks and funky vibe, tight-knit retail communities and lack of parking, and yeah, we’re the meat eaters. But a new wave has hit South Austin, and Austin as a whole: CBD dispensaries. Texas is still anxiously awaiting legalization. As of Sept 1, the availability of medical cannabis was widened and the dam was broke on the legal THC levels for medicinal purposes, a win for those suffering from PTSD and cancer. A step in the right direction.
For the time being, we must take our victories where we can. Hemp and CBD were made legal to grow and consume in the state of Texas in 2019. Industrious entrepreneurs eagerly seized the opportunity to fill a niche and pioneer the CBD startup.
Locally, we have seen the rise of a new market, and pandemic be damned! The owners of these boutiques have survived the long quarantine and are severely knowledgeable and, in many cases, you will find them on-site.
My first stop was American Shaman, where owner, Julien Lamb, greeted me in the well-lit, cozy showroom.
“Shamanism has roots in many cultures, in terms of healing and bringing knowledge back to help people. American Shaman is kind of a play on that. I think that’s the inception of the name.”
“We used to grow this stuff back in the 1800s, and make clothes out of it. And during WWII all the rope was made out of hemp for the Navy. In Australia they’re doing 3D printing of houses with hemp paste. It could replace a lot of industries but there’s a lot of investment in that pre-established stuff. We must have progress, progress by going back to what we used to do. I grew up with D.A.R.E and that kind of fear-based rhetoric is the opposite of progress. The lumber industry was huge against growing and cultivation of hemp because it’s a threat. Hemp has a 90-day growing cycle, you don’t have to chop down forests anymore. There’s been a hundred years of ‘reefer madness’ thanks to Harry Anslinger and the DEA. My favorite thing is, D.A.R.E. has actually sent out a message of, ‘hey, we’re sorry about all the things we said about marijuana’. That was actually posted on social media.”
“I grew up with D.A.R.E and that kind of fear-based rhetoric is the opposite of progress. The lumber industry was huge against growing and cultivation of hemp because it’s a threat. Hemp has a 90-day growing cycle, you don’t have to chop down forests anymore. ”
“I grew up with D.A.R.E and that kind of fear-based rhetoric is the opposite of progress. The lumber industry was huge against growing and cultivation of hemp because it’s a threat. Hemp has a 90-day growing cycle, you don’t have to chop down forests anymore.”
Hit Julien up to get some quality CBD products for you and your pet, cbdamericanshaman.com, 1901 W. Wm Cannon, Ste 109.
My next stop was Joy Organics, at 902 N. Lamar. Owner, Danielle Smith, was on hand in the chic boho boutique and excited to show me the array of products they have available, from tinctures, gummies and dog treats, to energy drinks and bath bombs.
A particular source of pride for Danielle is the launch of her own line of personal care products, Wild Bloom. “I grew up conservative, and I want people to be able to feel comfortable about expressing their needs to achieve sexual wellness.” Wild bloom is about inclusivity, and “facilitating a space of healing mind, body and spirit and empowering others to be their most authentic selves”. Danielle actually had a hand in formulating the Wild Bloom CBD Pleasure Gel, a water-based gel that is safe for use with condoms and toys.
Visit Joy Organics or joyorganics.com to put together a holiday gift set for your loved one.
Next was MaryJae, at 2110 S. Lamar Ste E. Jae Graham, owner and founder of Mary Jae, knows firsthand the positive effects cannabis can offer to those suffering from cancer. In 2000, Jae and her brother shared cannabis with their father, Larry, who was diagnosed with cancer and cirrhosis. When doctors questioned why Larry’s quality of life had increased so dramatically, Jae was reluctant to share the truth with them, fearing prosecution. After all, Hispanics are more than twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites. But Larry lived another 10 years.
This experience inspired Jae to “create a safe space where the elderly could come in, women, people of color, the queer community, everything that we are”. Jae says that people have read Larry’s story, and they actually come in to her store seeking help for themselves or a family member. Often, especially with older people, it is a moral issue. They think CBD will get them high. But as attitudes change and trends emerge, those in need will open their minds to the benefits of cannabis.
Stop in to Mary Jae, or check out their website, shopmaryjae.com.
This is the first in my series, “CBD Crawl” (think: “Pub Crawl”). Hopefully I can entice you to visit one of these shops soon!
While writing Hemp for Victory, I was presented with stories about hemp growing 30′ tall. However, there is scant, if any, record of this. Not that it isn’t true, or entirely lacking witness thereof. One account of super tall hemp that I found was in a German language pamphlet on hemp cultivation in Nepal from 1914. From personal observation, I found that most grew 6-10′ tall. The Chameleon variety that I saw in England, and all the rest that grew there, and in Europe at the time of my writing, were at best 8′ tall.
Lyster Dewey of the US Department of Agriculture in 1913 wrote that it grew 1-5 meters. I noted all of this and gave 25′ as a possible height.
Last month I got a call from Mina Hegaard telling me that in California, Wade Atteberry stated that the team at the Riverdale Hemp Factory had surpassed such figures.
Talking to Atteberry, I was able to confirm that. They had measured some at 24′ 1 5/8”. He also had measurements for the stems, some of which were up to 2 ½” across. Similar records of thick stems exist from Berti’s 1657 La Coltivazzione delle Canape and an 1839 record from Rev. Daniel Smith. Berti gives a thickness of 3 7/8” while Smith writes that it was over 3”.
With a credible record to work with, I picked his brain to find out how he they made a skyscraper out of Cannabis sativa. First, there was the variety:Yu Ma, a Chinese land race strain, that Larry Serbin of Hemp Traders had procured from his Asian trading partners.
Mike McGuire, Tom Pires, Patrick Flaherty and Tony de Veyra who were involved in this project, decided to use this as a learning experience; they sowed seed 4” apart in one plot, and 6” apart in another, then watched them shoot up in the San Joaquin heat. The thermometer there registered up to 108 degrees F, some days a constant of 106-108 degrees F. Irrigation did not exceed 17 inches of water per acre (note that cotton uses about 24-30” of water per acre).
The taller specimens were not however harvested at the end of the season, but left to continue their growth well after the season.
For some application, such as seed and CBD, this is counterproductive. The plant uses more energy, water and time to grow.
But for those selling the cellulose, this greatly multiplies the yield. The cellulose in the bast can be used for paper, cordage or textiles. I have been writing lately about paper, as this is a good start, giving the farmer a product that is not too demanding to grow, but for which there is constant demand. And not just bast, but hurds as well, in contrast to cordage and textiles, can be used for paper. Wade explained that the softer hurds are more absorbent, and while they might not make the best writing paper, they have applications in paper towels and art paper; and next time you squeeze the Charmin you just might be pressing on hurds. Dewey wrote about making hemp paper from hurds ca. 1917.
But Wade and the team at the Riverdale Hemp Factory were not selling this for pulp. They had higher ideals: textile production and building materials.
The bast that they got from these stalks received top grades. It will be shipped to China for processing, and we await more results.
This is a personal victory, or at least partial victory for me, as I have always been pushing for hemp to be grown and processed in the US. Minawear Hemp Clothing, which I founded with my sister in 1999, had to buy Chinese hemp, and I once complained about this to Serbin. Had the laws been different in the US at the time, he could have made these moves a long time ago. Now that the federal government gives each state the right to decide on the legality of hemp, we have made some headway.
With 25′ tall plants, we have much larger cellulose yields. For which I hope that we will have paper mills going full steam in the United States, and that the paper industry, which was in the last century much a part of the economy, employing over a million Americans, will be back in business.
Since Atteberry, Serbin, McGuire, Pires, Flaherty and de Veyra have focused on bast production for textiles, the hemp industry in the US has taken a step further than paper, which has been my focus in this and the two previous articles.
And while improving hemp’s market as a textile, they have at the same time improved hemp’s market as paper pulp, in that the hurds not made into shirts and trousers are in greater supply and more readily available to the paper mills.
Expect more jobs to be created as the Riverdale Hemp Factory and partners continue their research on industrial hemp. And no shortage of Charmin in the supermarket aisles
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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.
The Texas Hemp Reporter this November will be blooming itself across the Lone Star State in time for Harvest Season. With the recent expansion of Houston Texas market to receive the September edition, the Austin TX based Cannabis publication is headed north and south this November adding in two more metros totaling over a 1000 smoke shops in Texas. Dallas and San Antonio will begin receiving the free magazine in area CBD stores and smoke shops this holiday season. The expansion is a good thing for the growing Texas cannabis and Hemp market. With recent public awareness about new legislation and readily available medicines , cannabis has a growing fan base with fellow Texans.
The Texas Hemp Reporter is expanding the magazine across the state and will be offering a subscription base option for growers and fans of the industry publication living in more rural areas of the Lone Star State.
The producers of the magazine also host a popular podcast in the Texas arena , The Texas Hemp Show discuses legislative concerns, banking challenges, and often interviews business professionals in the Hemp space around the State. Tommy Chong, Sid Miller, Freeway Rick Ross, and recently Cheech Marin appeared on the podcast that also currently airs on local Talk Radio News Radio 590 KLBJ.
For more information or to advertise your business with the radio show or the magazine reach out to Publisher and Host Russell Dowden at 512-897-7823 or email [email protected] for more details on how to be a guest on the show or have your business profiled in the magazine.
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.
