November 2021

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DEATH INVITES DEATH, SO CLEAN UP YOUR GROW MESS LEE VERNON

How many times have we heard the expression cleanliness is next to Godliness? Well, the same applies to your grow operation, especially indoor or greenhouse farming. I have seen it more than once where an unkept grow battles unnecessary and preventable issues with disease and pests which in some cases leads to complete crop failure. Best case scenario, you have a crop that ends up not being the best quality or one spends additional money in battling constant issues which leads to less profitability. In this issue, we will discuss some simple routines and processes that can save the farmer money, time, and increase the quality of their hemp crop. So, let’s get to it.

There is an expression in the industry that we use when we see dirty and unkept grow operations. It is “Death invites death.” When you look at the biological process of nature, when something dies it goes through a natural decomposition process. Doesn’t matter what it is, this process is something that can not be stopped. That process entails said matter decaying and with that decaying process, you have other factors in nature that come in and assist with that decomposition such as animals, bugs, and bacteria. These are all things that as farmers and growers we do NOT want to affect our crops. Therefore, good and thorough housekeeping is essential to the viability and overall health of your plants. Where do we see the biggest issue, yet is the easiest to prevent?

Defoliation.

Defoliation is the process of removing leaves and thinning plant matter so light and energy can be directed into the production of healthy dense flower. What is generally seen by us in the industry when we are hired to come in and problem solve plant “health” issues is tone of two things.

The grower does a good job of defoliating their plants on a daily basis, but those leaves that are removed are simply thrown on the ground or into pots. Or defoliation

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you have much smaller amounts of waste.

But if we throw that on the ground around our plants on a daily or weekly basis, you begin to get multiple layers of decaying plant matter.

As that matter decomposes, we have layer after layer of rotting plant material.

It is a never-ending cycle of stuff dying and decomposing. If you take the second example of defoliating all at once, now you have a massive amount of material that sits and will take longer to decompose due to shear volume. What does that mean in both instances? Disease and pests!

Dead foliage on plants is unhealthy and invites unwanted problems

Decaying leaves and stems is a breeding ground for disease and pests

is done in sporadic “catch up” moments when plants are heavily overgrown and the same is done with the waste. Except in the latter, you have much larger amounts of waste that piles up at once. BOTH are extremely bad.

Let’s take the first example. If you spend a little bit of time each day defoliating,

In order for that matter to decompose, bacteria and certain enzyme levels begin to increase in order to facilitate that process.

With both instances above, we are introducing bacteria that we do not want into our growing environment. And if that waste is sitting in pots as well, now you are introducing those bacteria into your soil which will

Good and thorough housekeeping is essential to the viability and overall health of your plants.

Where do we see the biggest issue, yet is the easiest to prevent?

Defoliation.

Water and nutrient containers need to be kept out of direct sun and have some type of circulation pump continuously going to keep sedimentation and impurities at bay

transfer to the roots and other parts of the plant. Adding to that process is the attraction of various pests which then feed off of that matter and bacteria. So, you have essentially invited disease and a bug issue which can quickly spiral out of control and be detrimental to a crop.

The correct disposal process when defoliating your plants is to put all material in a trash bag and dispose of away from your grow area. If you have cattle or farm animals, one can supplement their feed with the leaves and stems, so nothing is wasted. If you choose to drop all the material onto the ground, then be sure to come back through and rake or shop vac up all the leaves and materials that was pulled. This way there is nothing sitting around that could cause problems later. Personally, when one defoliates, it should be a constant ongoing process.

If you defoliate a little every day, then it takes a lot less time, the plants stay healthier, and you don’t fall behind as trying to do a big defoliation all at once will be extremely time consuming.

Next on good housekeeping habits let’s look at water and mixing containers. It is normal if one is going through large amounts of water daily to have to do a lot of mixing of nutrients. You want to clean those measuring devices after each use, otherwise they will build up residue as well as introduce bacteria and mold which could then be transferred to your crop. If your water container is sitting in sunlight, then extra caution needs to be taken as heat and sunlight can affect water

Great example of a clean and dry grow room with healthy plants

quality as well as degradation of nutrient solutions. If you are indoors, then be sure to have some sort of small circulation pump inside the container. The pump keeps the water and nutrients moving which prevents things from solidifying and building up on the bottom of the container. A build up of nutrients could potentially have a negative affect when it comes to the amount of nutrients being given to plants.

Finally, one should keep your grow rooms and areas as dry as possible. Granted there will be some water dispersion that goes with watering and feeding your plants. I

am talking about large amounts of water that simply sits in fully enclosed area for days or weeks at a time. That water can act as a breeding ground for bacteria and mold.

Once that starts, it can spread to other areas which could be problematic. If that happens, you can simply use Hydrogen Peroxide and water or Simple Green to spray down your walls and floors. Hydrogen Peroxide is nontoxic and converts to oxygen as it evaporates.

This is also a great preventative between harvests or moving plants to different rooms between grow cycles. Simply spray the room down and keep on going.

The cannabis industry moves fast. And so there are some new THC’s that are emerging that I wanted to put on your radar to review with some caution. With everything I share, I am not a doctor, nor a lawyer, just a passionate cannabis business owner and consumer who is based right here in Central Texas.

I won’t spend too much time lingering on the subject of Delta 8 THC, for those of us operating in Texas, this cannabinoid is pretty much everywhere from gas stations to smoke shops, and CBD dispensaries all the same. There is still discrepancy from state to state on the legality of Delta 8 THC, but as far as Texan’s are concerned, it did not get formally outlawed during our last Texas Legislative session and as such, as long as it contains no more than .3% Delta 9 THC and is hemp derived, it is in fact a hemp derivative and is legal in the state.

What I will elect to put on your radar is the recent ( September 2021) update from the FDA that states “5 Things to Know about Delta 8” saying it has serious health risks.

The bulletin outlines that the FDA has not approved it for safe use and it may be marketed in ways that put the public health at risk. It also states that they have received adverse event reports involving Delta 8 containing products. They also highlight that it does in fact have psychoactive and intoxicating effects. And that Delta 8 products often involve use of potentially harmful chemicals to create concentrations of Delta 8 claimed in the marketplace.

Nothing has been implemented by way of federally outlawing Delta 8, however this update is alerting consumers (and the industry) that they are aware of the unregulated product on the market and encourage anyone to report complaints of accidental exposure or adverse events to the FDA. Now while that is a big update, I don’t want us to get sidetracked with the other cautious things I’m about to unpack. And for what

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it’s worth, I do believe there is a credible way to derive Delta 8 out there, just like there is good and bad Delta 9 from the legal marijuana markets to the black markets. It comes down to understanding who you are purchasing from, and educating yourself so you can ask the right questions.

Moving on to another THC cannabinoid, is “Hemp Derived Delta 9- THC”. I’m sure you’ve seen some products, both here in Texas as well as nationally, that appear to contain upwards of 2.5mg of Delta 9 to 10mg of Delta 9. And you may be wondering, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? Well according to the farm bill, as long as the product does not contain < .3% hemp derived Delta 9 by weight, there appears to be a window of opportunity to increase the % by increasing the weight of the final product. The hard part to wrap my head around is how in fact someone is deriving enough Delta 9 from hemp to pack into products that accumulate enough to register these large Delta 9 percentages.

I should have also highlighted that I am not a scientist, but I am one heck of an internet sleuth and from what I’ve understood,

there is some science that makes this legal, but to me, it may not be what it seems. I also don’t know if this is bad play so much as people are finding creative ways to interpret the farm bill and to that I applaud them.

I just see this particular product gaining more and more notoriety as I steep in this industry and don’t want to scare you, but rather to prepare you.

Probably the most probable THC that I want to bring up though is one you may not have heard about yet. It’s called THC-O Acetate, and unlike Delta 8 and Delta 9, it is not derived from the cannabis plant. It’s not a THC isomer like Delta 8. It’s a conversion from Delta 8 and or Delta 9.

Since the farm bill passed, people have been experimenting with custom creations to bring to market. And THC-O is just that.

Alleged to be 2-3x more potent than Delta 9, some are questioning the need for such a strong cannabinoid product on the market.

But without the legal hoops that the adult use and hemp markets have to go through, this is one that is going to draw a lot of attention not only from consumers looking for a more intoxicating experience, but in

my opinion, from regulators trying to corral the cannabis industry.

I personally see all of these as things that will complicate the progress of legalizing marijuana here in Texas. These are going to create flares that regulators and lawmakers will have to deal with and because it’s happening in such unregulated ways, it’s creating some chaos that as an industry we should address and deal with.

To be blunt, I don’t know what the right course of action is. I think we have a lot of information to unpack and a lot more work to do by ways of setting up proper checks and balances both within our industry through way of self regulation, but also through formal regulatory processes and standards that should be implemented that ultimately will deliver a consistent and safe consumer experience.

What are your thoughts? Please reach out and connect with me @tobebluntpod. And tune into the To Be Blunt podcast every Monday for a new episode covering these topics and more.

CHEECH MARIN INTERVIEW

BY RUSSELL DOWDEN WITH JESSE WILLIAMS

Russell: Welcome to the Texas Hemp Show.

This is podcast number 55, with my cohost, Jesse Williams. This week on the program is legendary actor, comedian, artist, activist, pop culture icon, Cheech Marin. He’s on the call with us this week on the Texas Hemp Show. Welcome to the program Cheech. How are you, my friend?

Cheech: I’m barely awake.

Russell: Well, thanks for being on the show, man. How’s life treating you? Where are you calling in from? Are you in California?

Cheech: I’m in the desert. Joshua Tree. Beautiful here. Very cool, man.

Russell: Well, thank you so much for giving us some of your time. And, you know, I’ve talked with you guys before. You’ve been on my show before a couple of times. I used to publish Weird Magazine, and we used to have you on. We had you on for the Light Up America tour once, and I think we had you for the Keep It Legal tours the last time you and I spoke a couple of years back there.

Cheech: Good tours too.

Russell: Good times too. And then I saw you guys in Austin here. You and Tommy came with the War tour with Lonnie and the band. You guys. That was a lot of fun.

Cheech: It was. We toured with them for a long time. Yeah, that was a good tour, man.

Russell: And hanging out with Lonnie and the guys. You guys did some autographs in the back. There was a lot of fun a couple of years ago here in Austin. We saw you guys, but I am publishing something different now with this hemp industry. And cannabis is very popular now. And so I’ve kind of changed a little gears from music going into cannabis now. So I’m publishing the Texas Hemp Reporter. I want to ask you to tell us a little bit about the cannabis side of business that you’re involved in there in California,and then introduce maybe some of the CBD products as well.

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Cheech: Sure. Well, we started each of us with our own individual brands. Tommy has Chong’s Choice and I have Cheech’s Stash, and so we are promoting those. But now we’re in a new project where we’re actually acquiring dispensaries themselves and renaming them Cheech and Chong’s dispensaria. And we have all kinds of new products, our own individual products and also a whole new Cheech and Chong line has all the different products. But we have a lot of CBD products, and that has been really popular on both our strands.

Russell: Well, imagine that, a dispensaria from you and Tommy. No, that’s going to be exciting.

Cheech: Yeah. We’ll have our picture all over it.

Russell: Well, that’s really cool. I know you got your cannabis line, there’s about three

or four flavors that you and the kids have developed that’s popular. And then you got a CBD line. I know here in Texas, we can’t get online and buy your cannabis, but we can with your CBD products. Can you talk or speak about either the cannabis brands and the CBD brands? Tell us about those because it’s exciting. We can still drive out there and pick it up in person.

Cheech: There you go. Well, you know, like our weed brand, we curate the finest crops being grown all over in whatever state we’re in.

And then we present it to you. But our slogan is, it will always be good. So it doesn’t matter what kind of weed, because it’ll all be different because there’s all kinds of strains coming in.

And we pick those, but it’ll always be good. So you can look on that label and count on it for great quality. But our CBD line is doing very, very well. We have all kinds of creams, and the

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best thing is now is we got CBD tape. That black athletic tape. Yeah. Athletes wear that. We now have that in CBD. And boy, does that work.

Russel: Wow. Jesse: That sounds like futuristic, man.

Russell: I need some of that for my tennis elbow. I could use some of that Cheech.

Cheech: There we go. There we go. But all our CBD products work really well, whether it’s creams or sprays or suppositories or whatever.

Jesse: Do you use these CBD products yourself Cheech. You test these out a lot.

that we would come under Cheech’s stash. All doing very well. As our model always is, “It will always be good.” And that’s what we paid on most heavily.

Jesse: When it comes to these flavors Cheech, or strain, is there a favorite that you have within your line-up there?

Cheech: These edibles. Like everybody does edibles, and they’re different from one state or one manufacturer or consumer to the next. But we’re developing this one, this lime cucumber and man, let me tell you, it is not only very good, but it’s fast acting,

Russell: Fast acting.

Cheech: I try not to get behind those. OHHH! Those. The tape I use all the time because I have bad shoulders. You know, they start out after a while. And if you use it for two or three days in a row and it really gets released for a long time.

But you can rub it on, too. But whichever one that makes you feel better.

Russell: Texas has a small cannabis program.

Russell: What was the first time you tried cannabis, man, I know that you’ve been an advocate for this plan for the better part of 50 years, but we did a little Cheech MArin give his first taste of cannabis.

Russell: And it’s very small. We have a whopping 1% Cheecht of THC that just passed in September 1 of this past this month. So cannabis in Texas is at 1%.

Cheech: Actually, it was my first year in College, and I came in there and it was a real straight arrow at that time. I was an ultra boy and a choir boy. So my roommate came in and they were smoking something and they handed it to me and like,and I go wow, what is this? So I said, what else have they been lying about? And from that point on, I was a weed fan.

Russell: Well, it looks like your daughter Jasmine and your son Joey, have kind of helped you guys put together these different strains. And I know the website’s got kind of a focus on sharing the love of experience and understanding of cannabis. And that seems to be kind of a real cool message that you guys are imparting to your customer base. How did the family get that going with those strands. Was this an inspiration from your children?

Cheech: Yeah. Well, you know, we came up with the idea of going into this business, and so I told them because your kids, at some point, you want them to have a job. So what do they know best? Ahh weed! I’ll have them work for me.

Jasmine handles moreof the social media and the development of some CBD strains and the packaging. And Joe has the acquisition and the acquiring of all these different strains and things

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Jesse: That’s what everybody wants.

Cheech: I’m in at eight or nine minutes, maybe ten at the most. But you be like “Hey. Hello.

That’s what I’ve been looking for.”

Cheech: Yeah.

Cheech: I thought Texas is supposed to be the biggest state. You know, they have the biggest weed I mean, the biggest dopers that I know are Texas. I know, right.

Jesse: Sometimes you wind up on the show the biggest loser.That’s what Texas has done.

Russell: Well, we are the big loser as far as it goes with cannabis Cheech. And what advice does Cheech Marian have for Texas lawmakers regarding legalization of cannabis? You know, you’ve got to have some tips for these guys Cheech.

Cheech: Well, I would think that the first thing they want to do is get their head out of their ass, and maybe you can hear the message better.

Russell: Right. Well, it’s been a challenge.

Cbd is popular, and we just got the medicine available at 1% as of September 1. It’s troubling.

And it’s frustrating for Texans to have this. So we hope that those things change.

Cheech: Well, it’s funny, because in the past, when we were getting a lot of push back, all you guys are promoting marijuana. And we said at some point, what if we’re right? What if marijuana is good for you?

Russell:Yeah, that’s right.

Cheech: Who’s laughing now?

Russell: Well, you know, I think it’s a matter of time before the federal government legalizes this. I mean, don’t you think that, you think DC might make a change nationally before Texas does?

Cheech: Do you know, I asked John Roberts, the Supreme Court Justice, the head of the Supreme Court, had a conversation with him one day me and Johnny. And I’d ask them that same question, what will you do when the question of legalization of marijuana comes up in front of your court and he says, “we’re gonna kick it

down the road.” Really? At the end of the day, that’s what it came down to. We’re not going to make a decision on this right now, but eventually they will because it stops the the business end of it. It’s really tough because I can’t have a bank account.

Russell: Well, I know that’s some of the things that they need to change the banking side of this, but, you know, Cheech to me it would make sense, man, if they just think about the taxation. And I mean, you would think that the money. The government cares so much about money and fixing problems and defense budgets and infrastructure.

You would think, man, we could fix a lot of the economic problems if they just legalize cannabis. There’s so many folks that you can tax this per plant and billions.

Cheech: If they made it federally legal. It would accomplish exactly that because you have to invent the wheel in every state. You know, you have to grow it and sell it in the state. That kind of sell it in. But that’s for all 50 States, you have to start all over every state, you know, you have manufacturer in Chicago and ship in Los Angeles. You know, it is ridiculous. I mean, it is ridiculous.

Jesse: Well, you’ve made something apparent to me now that I never really thought of before. When you talk about this conversation you had with the SCOTUS judge. And the big thing we have on our side now is the fourth estate is on our side.

Cheech: Yes!

Jesse: Now we finally have polls showing the fourth estate is on the side of legalization.

Cheech: Well it good. I mean, you know, I don’t think it’s going to change how many people use hemp or CBD or marijuana. It is going to make it far easier for it to thrive as a business.

Then if we know anything, is America supports businesses or should.

Russell: Yeah. Exactly. I want to turn a little to your activism and talk with you a little bit about that. I know that you have been supportive of the Last Prisoner Project.

We did a profile on Steve DeAngelo’s work a couple of issues ago in the Texas Hemp reporter, are you still a proponent or ambassador for the Last Prisoner project?

Cheech: Absolutely. I mean, an absurd amount of percentage of prisoners and all the prisons in California, well not just California,

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but in the United States, are there on some drug charges, chiefly marijuana. And now that it’s legal, they’re still there. So come on.

Russell: Well, I mean, that’s why there’s a big activism movement for people that are in prison and just the unfair prisonization of folks that are nonviolent offenders. So it’s a big issue.

Cheech: Yeah. I mean, you know, on our end of it we have as many health products as we do everything else. We have a whole line of tea.

Rise and Shine to start off the day and rest easy at night, caffeine free. And if you have any questions just go to our website and find out how they work.

Russell: Yeah. Fire off the website for everyone Cheech.

Cheech: cheechsprivatestash.com

Russell: And we had an ad with the magazine for your product a couple of months ago when Tommy was on the cover there. So cheechsprivatestash.com. We’re going to look that up as well. And I want to ask, what else before.

Cheech: I just just a disclaimer Cheech’s Stash is much better than Chong’s weed.

Russell: For the record everybody! That’s right. You heard it right here on the Texas Hemp Show.

Cheech: So ours will always be good. Maybe it’ll always be good.

Russell: That’s a good way to put that change. What’s some recent work in film you’re doing? I was talking to Lisa last week.

She said, you were working on a film that you just wrapped up with Jennifer Lopez.

Cheech: Yeah.

Russell: When Tommy was on in July, he said that you both worked on a documentary type of film in the summer. Tell us a little what we can expect to see from Cheese Marlin in 2022.

Cheech: Well, I just finished it. I think a couple of months ago, when we did this movie called A Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Coolidge and Josh Duhamel. Lenny Kravitz is in there. D’Arcy Carden, Steve Coulter, there’s a bunch of really great actors, and we filmed in the Dominican Republic. So on one hand, it was really good to get out of the house. And on the other hand, the Dominican Republic is beautiful.

I think it’s going to come out in July. I think that’s

the last thing I heard about. Who knows? But it was a fun movie to do.

Russell: Wow, A Shotgun Wedding. That sounds like a comedy.

Cheech. And, yeah, also, we have a new episode of Nash Bridges in November. We shot that a little while ago in San Francisco, and it’s going to be run during sweeps, I think in November.

And if everybody likes it, we’ll do more.

Russell: Oh, wow. This is really cool. What was the name of the documentary film or the film that you worked on in the summer with Tommy? He said that was kind of like a documentary that you guys did in the desert or something.

Cheech: Yeah. It’s a documentary about Cheech and Chong. Kind of our whole life history. And we got the last bit of it out here in the desert and we escaped.

Russell: Did you all film that at Joshua Tree out there?

Cheech: Yeah. It was great because it’s been filming over a long period of time, and we just finished the last bit of it, so hopefully it’ll be coming out sooner or later. It’s really interesting, man. We’ve been at this a long time to see it in front of you in one piece like, wow, this has been a long time.

Jesse: We heard that the working title was Keep Smoking. Have you all been sticking with that, or is there something new that’s come up for a name?

Cheech: I don’t know what the latest version of the title is. We’ll name it, “Cheech’s Hemp Line is Better than Chongs.”

Russell: As long as it’s called that right.

That’s the name of the documentary. Tell us about the artwork you’re doing there in Los Angeles. They’re in Riverside. I know the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts and Culture there at the Ram River Art Museum is coming soon. This is kind of the worldwide home for Chicano. You’re very active in the Latino community, especially there in L.A.. Can tell our listeners about this part of Cheech Marin because this is something people I know from L.A. are always telling me what a big artist you are and what you do for art and the community there. Tell us about this project with the RiverSide Art Museum.

Cheech: Sure. I’m not the artist. I’m the art collector, and have been doing it for almost 50 years.

And put together this big collection of kind of from the origins of Chicano Art to right now.

And I toured all over the country. And then we played in over 50 museums from the Smithsonian to LACMA to De Young. I mean all the major museums across the country. And then at some point, the city of Riverside offered me a museum building to house the collection out of the blue. I did a show there and it was a big hit.

And they had this beautiful building, which was the town library. And they were building a new library. So they had to repurpose the building.

They looked around for ways to do that. They finally settled on me. And would you like to do it? Put the art collection there. And I said wait a minute, you want me to buy a Museum, right?

I’m doing okay, but not museum okay. So now we are in the midst of just about to open it on May 8 next year.

Russel. Yeah. It’s a big project here in Los Angeles County. I understand that the city got behind you on that program,

Cheech. The city and the whole Inland Empire. Man, everybody is really behind this project and it is going really fast and we’re really proud of it. We hope that everybody will be proud of it when they see it. It opens May 8.

Russell: This is at the Ram or the Culture of the Riverside Art Museum. The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture there at the Ram Museum in L.A. That’s a very cool project. I saw that. I looked it up on the Internet. I don’t know if there’s a website.

Riverside Art Museum. Yeah. Check that out, guys, because that is really cool. They’re doing this with Cheech Marin there in the Los Angeles area. My co host, Jesse has one for you here.

Jesse: I want to know if it’s true that your nickname Cheech is short for chicharron.

Cheech:That is absolutely correct.

Russell: I heard where you’re little is like an uncle gave you the nickname. Is that right?

Cheech: Yes. My uncle. He came when I got brought home for the hospital. He came into the bedroom and looked in the crib and he looked and said, “Ay, parece un chicharrón.” Looks like a little chicharrón, you know curled up and shriveled. And that became my name in the family from then on. And then when I got together (with Tommy), my first name is Richard. But when we got together and trying to come up with a name for what we were doing, he said, Well, we tried

Chong and Richard and Richard and Tommy, and he said, “do you have a nickname?” My nickname is Cheech. And he said, Cheech. Cheech and Chong. That’s, it, it’s Cheech and Chong. And it was never Chong and Cheech because it sounds right. I mean, it sounds better.

Russell: Cheech and Chong does sound better. After speaking to Tommy, after you run into Tommy in Canada at his improvisation club. And then the two of you eventually end up back in L.A. But tell us a little like how that got started.

Cheech: What would happen is I went to Canada after I graduated from College. And I was very involved in the draft resistance movement, because the Vietnam War was going on, and I was very against it and very against the draft.

Our motives in the draft resistance movement are to not cooperate with the draft. So we burned our cards in. The director of the draft General Hershey said that anybody who did any of those things, and we did all of them, will be immediately reclassified and then drafted and sent to the front lines in Vietnam. That was his schtick. Well, that’s kind of a First Amendment issue, Mr. General.

And it’s gonna get overturned. But in the meantime, you’re going to spend three or four years at Folsom. Not Folsom but one of those federal pens (Jesse: Leavenworth). Yep, Leavenworth And I said screw that and you as well. And not you, but those guys. And I went to Canada, and I went there extensively to be a Potter. I was a Potter in my last year of College, and it took over my life. I was going to be a Potter. And I did that. And then I worked for a couple of potters while I was there.

And then eventually I made my way to Vancouver. And I got introduced to Tommy Chong, who was running an improvisational theater company

in a Topless bar in Vancouver. It was Vancouver’s first topless bar, but it had comedy. And what, after all, what we were doing, we were doing was hippie burlesque. It was strippers and comedians.

It’s just the comedians were improv actors. And so Tommy told the girls, that okay, well, you’re not strippers anymore. You’re actresses get naked or you get paid less.

Russell: Well, that’s so cool. Then you guys end up down in Los Angeles eventually. And then whenever I’ve interviewed you Cheech. It’s been a couple of times now I always bring this up. And you might remember me because I bring this up every time you’re on. My dad used to open up for you at the Climax Club when you and Tommy were performing there on Sunset. You remember me talking to you about this before? Yeah. My dad was performing at the venue that was owned by the record label that dad was signed to.

And so you guys were performing. And then Earth, Wind and Fire would play at night. And you remember those days of the Climax cutting over there, I’m sure.

Cheech: Oh, yes, I do! That was a whole lot of fun. It was an after hours club in Hollywood. It was spectacular. It was a spectacular looking building and the audience, the weirdest you’re ever going to see in Hollywood.

And we were the club comedians. And is it your father?

Russell: Yeah. My father’s Chris. Chris Kensley. He’s a couple of years younger than you guys. But he would come in and play guitar before you’re set. And then you all did the comedy. And then he Page 15 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

would come on again. And then he was just like the filler between the bigger acts.

Cheech: We weren’t that big. And there was this other band that wasn’t that big an act, too.

But this was their first kind of gig, and it was called Earth, Wind and Fire.

Cheech: Don’t be so patient. Vote it in. Put pressure on you those who will make the laws so they will change them. So this will happen because it’s going to happen. I mean, it’s like standing in front of a boulder, coming downhill. You can stand in front of it. I just wouldn’t, you know. So make this happen. And like we said in the past, what if it’s good for you? What if it has medical benefits, which it is propving to have so, you know, I don’t know why Texas is being so slow. Their fast on everything else.

Russell: That’s right. Earth, Wind and Fire were also there at that time. Tommy was on a few months ago, and he said that my dad told me to remind you and Tommy, when I had you all on again. Do they remember doing that Sergeant Sunshine song?

Cheech: Wow. Russell: You remember that?

Cheech: I do. That is amazing that he would remember that.

Russell: Wasn’t that a real cop in San Francisco. And he was on the side of the hippies, and he smoked up and everything.

So they adopted him. And he called him Sergeant Sunshine.

Russell: Well, when Tommy was on in July, he said, Russell, he said y’all only did that bit of Sergeant Sunshine in L.A. Like, we didn’t do it when we were at other places. I guess you all didn’t want to do it when you were in San Francisco. Or if you played San Francisco, you didn’t do it there because the cop. But he said, I didn’t know that y’all just did that in L.A. Cheech: Yeah, I just remembered we only did it in L.A. because we heard the story was a real story about Sergeant Sunshine and Tommy wrote the song. (sings: Sergeant Sunshine was a cop). But we weren’t going to do it anywhere else because we didn’t travel anywhere else.

Russell: It wasn’t because you were booked.

You weren’t booked all up and down the coast back then. My mom called me this morning and said that you used to do this skit where they would act like dogs. And they were talking through the fence.

Jesse: Ralphie.

Cheech: Absolutely. Ralph and Herbie.

Russell: That’s right. Ralph and Herby.

Yeah. That’s crazy times. Is all of that covered in the film Cheech?

Cheech: It will be. Yeah, it will be. You’ll see it all.

It was a lot of stories that came out of there. There was these guys just saw that skit in our early days.

And one guy told me he saw that skit and then he got busted for something in Turkey and got put Page 16 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

in jail in Turkey. And it was kind of bad news.

And so he got this other guy to do this with him.

The other Turkish prisoners were getting on him.

So him and this buddy did that dog skit for the prisoners. So they were there. And they thought it was the most hilarious thing there. And they became celebrities in the prison, all the bad guys off their ass. It was really cool.

Russell: You guys ended up eventually signing with Lou Adler there on the comedy album deal. That came very shortly after Cheat.

Cheech: Yeah, well, that’s right.

Russell: Yeah. Yeah. I know. This is just one of those things that I don’t know if it’s the Bible Belt down here, whatever it is, it’s a very conservative area, but other states are moving ahead. And I believe there’s 37 States that have different programs. Texas finally, recently and only recently got a half decent type of program, but we’ll hope to make some changes there. And any final shout out, what do you got coming up? Any other dates coming up for you this year or anything that you’d like to plug?

Cheech: Well, this year, I kind of just finished a bunch of come up, three or four projects in a row. And so I actually I’ve been trying to retire.

They won’t let me. You know every time I say that a great project drops out of the sky. I kind of have to choose between, I don’t want to work anymore. That’s fine. Or always work as long as they offer you work.

Jesse: I wanted to ask you something talking about starting off a comedy career.

My wife’s been looking at this, and I know some other people have been as well. What advice do you give people who are looking to start a comedy career?

Cheech: Play as much as you can. Get on stage in front of people as much as you can. That’s really the test. It’s like going in the gym. And, you know, sometimes nights are better than others, but the more you get on the stage, the bigger your muscles get. So get on the stage no matter what stage it is.

Russell: Well, they’re always offering you. It seems like some kind of animated opportunity with a film. That you do a lot of voice work from time to time Cheech. Got a new one coming out. New animated film called Maya and the Three. And it’s a big deal. It’s a Netflix movie, and it’ll be all over. It’s called Maya and theThree.

Russell: What advice do you have for Texans waiting for cannabis? We got cannabis as a recreational program in Oklahoma, also in New Mexico, to our west. In fact, if you go all the way on I-10 all the way to California, there’s a recreational program in every state on the way to the Pacific. What do you have for, you know, Texans that are being patient for cannabis?

Russell. Nash Bridges is back. So we’re going to look forward to that. That is super cool. Thank you Cheech for being on our show. Thank you so much for your time. And you enjoy the rest of your time there in the desert, my friend.

Cheech: I want to say hi to all my friends, which I got a lot of friends in Texas, and you all stay true. Stand true. All right.

Russell: Maya and the Three, we will look for that. And the other movie you were working on, A Shotgun Wedding.

Cheech: Nash Bridges is coming back!

KAREN FROMEL and THE THIRD ANNUAL TEXAS HEMP AWARDS Jesse Williams talks with Karen Fromel in an interview about the Texas Hemp Awards, her goals for the contest, what it supports, and who is nominated this year.

Jesse: What can you tell us about the Texas Hemp Awards this year Karen?

Karen Fromel: Well, this is our third annual contest. We started in 2019 when there wasn’t anything really to do awards for, other than to recognize the people that helped fight to bring it to Texas. So last year was the first time there was anything to actually judge.

And this year we’re going to have a lot more areas to submit, and a lot of different nominations.

Jesse: There were entrance fees this year for products. What do those fees go to cover?

Karen: The entrance fee goes to cover the full panel test from Bluebonnet Labs and donation to Last Prisoner Project, which we always support.

Jesse: How many nominees do you believe you have so far this year?

Karen: We have over 100 nominees in 14 different categories Jesse: So you talked about there are new categories. What specific ones? You would say stand out as being new.

Karen: The artist and hemp events are new. Pet products themselves are new also.

I’ve added a national influencer, and I was kind of thinking along the lines of like Steve DeAngelo. So that’s kind of what I was thinking. Somebody that makes a huge impact nationally and internationally. The Page 18 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

nonprofits are also new. Definitely wanted to shed some light on that. 501(c)(3)’s.

Jesse: What about 501(c)(4)’s?

Karen: Yeah. Any 501s are eligible for this. I think I saw that you added a meme, whoever has the best meme is another category. Just looking for some fun. Just some goofy times. The Texas Hemp Awards is just a love fest for anybody that’s in the community. It’s a way to get more eyes on the brand and logos and stuff. All of this is pretty fluid.

Jesse: What categories are we not seeing making the return? What got deleted?

What didn’t make the cut in this round?

Karen: I think everything came back.

I split up the influencer from advocate/ warrior just because I thought it was better than just influencer. I wanted it to be more of a national versus just a local, so that’s slightly different. Last year for the brick and mortar we did it by territory. There were four different territories that a store could fall into. This year there’s not going to be any territories. It’s going to be the top three highest votes of any brick and mortar. So everybody’s competing against everybody else in all the territories, all the regions all over the state. And there are a lot of nominations so far for brick and mortar.

Jesse: Here are the nominations for this years public voting

National education course (certification earned) · ·

Trichome Institute We Educate Global

National Influencer · · · · · · · · ·

Austin Ruple Chef Brandon Allen Chris Grisolia (Gramps) Evelyn LaChapelle Higher Ed Hemp Tours James Johnson Jr. Moon Taxi Shayda Torabi Texas Cannabis Today

National nonprofit with a cannabis-focused mission · · · · · · · · · ·

Last Prisoner Project The Human Solution International Texas Hemp Event ATX Hemp & Wellness/Texas Cannabis Cup Lucky Leaf Expo Moon Taxi Sweet Sensi Texas Cannabis Collective Texas Hemp Harvest Festival Third Eye Healing

Texas Hemp Pet Product · · · ·

Casper’s Oil CBD Farmhouse First Responder Fuel Happy Karma Hemp

· Rebel Dreads Corp - Harper’s Pet Elixirs · Sweet Sensi · Tejas Hemp · VJ Farms

Texas-based Advocate/Warrior · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Amanda Hughes CBD Genie Chelsie Spencer Chris Grisolia (Gramps) Daulton Davis O’Neil First Responder Fuel Half Baked Housewives Higher Ed Hemp Tours Ilissa Nolan Jae Graham-Anciso James Johnson Jr. Jesse Williams KM 420 Radio Lisa Hilton Shayda Torabi Texas NORML The CBD Vet

Texas-based Ancillary support or service · · · · · ·

Cannasite Canna Sundries Chelsie Spencer Ilissa Nolan EPac Flexible Packaging Veterans Scientific Lab

Texas-based Artist · Amorette Quintanilla · Kelsi Leigh Photography · SaBEERna’s Art

Texas-based Hemp e-commerce (no brick and mortar) · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Absolute Nature CBD Blunt Babe Casper’s Oil Drops of Life CBD Farm to Market Hemp First Responder Fuel Happy Karma Hemp Hemp Ice Factory Life’s Balance Nature’s Purpose Rebel Dread Corp Tejas Hemp Today I am well Hemp Unbent Hemp

Texas-based Hemp retail brick and mortar · · · ·

27/21 Hemp Alamo Botanicals Austinite Cannabis Burn Smoke Shop

· CBD American Shaman Coppell · CBD American Shaman of Southeast Texas · DFW CBD · Elefante Healing · Go Green Botanicals · Good Vibes Smoke Shop · Gras CBD · Greenbelt Botanicals · Gruene Botanicals · Half Baked Housewives · Haylo Wellness · Hemplication · House of CBD · Houston Hemporium · Hummingbird Hemp · Lakeway Botanicals · MARYJAE · Moon Taxi · Natural Ways · Nature’s Joint · Odd Leaf Apothecary · Ojas CBD · PANACEA · Pure Thrive Essentials · RESTART CBD · Rio CBD · Tayco Farms · The Diamond Dynasty 7 · Third Eye Healing · Tribe CBD + Cannabinoids · Valley Medicinals · Weed Spot

Texas-based nonprofit with a cannabis-focused mission · · · ·

Informed Texas Texas Cannabis Collective Texas Hemp Coalition Texas NORML

Texas-based Processor/Extractor/ Manufacturer · · · · · · · · ·

Bayou City Hemp Happy Karma Hemp Oak Cliff Cultivators Ojas CBD Pur IsoLabs Rebel Dread Corp Sweet Sensi Waymaker Labs Wild Hemp

Texas-based Production · · · · · · · · ·

Canna Chill Dela Stoner Higher Ed Hemp Tours Mr. Mitch, Mmlimitedlost Texas Cannabis Collective Texas Hemp Coalition podcast Texas Hemp Reporter The Cannabis Library The Texas Hemp Show

Texas related Cannabis legalization/ hemp themed self-made meme · Farm to Market Hemp · Mr. Mitch, Mmlimitedlost · Texas Cannabis Collective

JUDGING PANELS At the time of writing, submissions of products for a judging panel of the 3rd annual Texas Hemp Awards was open. Submissions cutoff was Oct 31, 2021. Anybody wishing to submit was required to submit one sample to Bluebonnet Labs for full panel testing. If the sample passed, then 10 samples could be submitted for judging. The following products will be judged: · Texas Hemp beauty product · Best Grow to Finale Product (Vertically Integrated Company)

Texas Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids (CBD, CBC, CBN, etc.): · · · · · · · · ·

beverage capsules edibles: gummies edibles: non-gummies indoor-grown flower (must have TX grower’s license) outdoor-grown flower (must have TX grower’s license) preroll tincture topical

Texas Hemp-Derived Tetra Cannabinoids (D8, D10, THCV, THCP, etc.): · · · · · · · · ·

beverage capsules edibles: gummies edibles: non-gummies indoor-grown flower (must have TX grower’s license) outdoor-grown flower (must have TX grower’s license) preroll tincture topical

How to Pitch Pot to Conservatives (For Starters, Call it “Cannabis”)

BY MICHAEL JOHN WESTERMAN, ESQ.

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.

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?

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

Cannabis is Not from California, Nor Will It Turn Texas Into California 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

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So how is hemp legal and weed is illegal if it comes from the same plant?

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.

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.

Cheers, Michael John Westerman, Esq. www.mjwestermanlaw.com Central Texas’ Landlord-Tenant Attorney

CBD Crawl: South Austin

BY MISTY CONTRERAS

South Austin is known for its food trucks and funky vibe, tightknit retail communities and lack of parking, and yeah, we’re the bubbas. 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.

F

or 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.

Page 22 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

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

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.

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

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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.”

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!

PROFILES IN HEMP FARMING: ROBOT PHARMER

BY MISTY CONTRERAS

Texas Hemp Reporter: When did you begin farming?

Robot Pharmer: We began farming in September of 2018, immediately after our licenses were granted. The founders are Jeff Ely, Isaac Ramirez, Josh Wheat and Brandt Hamilton.

THR: Where are you located?

RP: Our farm and extraction lab are on a 20-acre property in Broken Bow, OK. The first of our 2 dispensaries, Robot Pharmer Dispensary, is located in Broken Bow as well. Broken Bow is in the southeast corner of the state near the borders of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Our 2nd location is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We have a warehouse on the edge of downtown that has our Tulsa dispensary, as well as our cannabis kitchen, a processing lab and a small container grow for pheno hunting.

THR: Can you describe your growing/ processing operation?

RP: We grow indoor and in greenhouses.

We have 5 indoor grow buildings consisting of 40 lights each. We grow organically in raised beds using living soil. We have three 3000-sq. ft. greenhouses also grown in living soil.

As far as processing, we process our own product through hydrocarbon extraction. We began the extraction portion of the business about 1 year in (Sept 2019). We make concentrates such as diamonds, batter, budder, shatter and sauce. We also utilize these concentrates to make vape cartridges, RSO and edibles. Our live resin edibles are a favorite here Page 26 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

in Oklahoma! We recently won 2nd place for edibles at the High Times Oklahoma Cannabis Cup for our Robot Pete’s Live Elixir. It is a live resin syrup that can be added to any drink or beverage. We have an amazing chef, Branden Bentley, who has taken marijuana edibles to another level! Chef Branden utilizes real fruit purées and other great ingredients to create the best-tasting edibles around. On top of the great flavor, we use live resin cannabis oil. Most cannabis edibles are made using THC distillate.

The problem with THC distillate is that many of the other cannabinoids and terpenes are lost through the distillation process. Live resin is a full-spectrum cannabis oil. Whatever was in the strain of flower shows up in the live resin

oil. This is why the effect of our edibles is more like the effect you feel from the actual flower.

THR: And what is the origin story of Robot Pharmer?

RP: Our partner, Josh Wheat, created the brand Robot Pharmer originally as a cannabis culture brand featuring great artwork,

apparel, posters and stickers. His vision was to create a global cannabis brand to help de-stigmatize medical cannabis and the industry as a whole. He decided a character would be the perfect way to do this. That is when the idea of Robot Pete was born…a robot “pharmer” who could educate people on all aspects of medical cannabis. Once he came to this revelation, Josh was on a mission to find an artist that could pull off his vision. Eventually he came across John Ortiz, an artist out of Los Angeles, California, that had helped several mainstream streetwear brands get off the ground. With Josh’s vision and John’s artistic talent they created a series of art pieces that would eventually become the base of the company we have built here in Oklahoma.

When this opportunity came about in Oklahoma, the 4 of us decided to partner up and apply for licenses. Brandt owned a property with a couple buildings and a couple cabins. We applied for our 3 licenses and to our surprise we were approved for all 3! I say surprised because at the

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beginning it was taking a real shot in the dark. No one really knew if the state of Oklahoma was going to do what it said it would do and approve anyone who qualified or, because of the volume of applicants, only accept a certain number of us.

Luckily for us it was the former. As soon as our licenses were approved Jeff and Isaac moved up from Austin, and Josh moved down from Seattle. Together, the 4 of us

began building and growing. After our first crop was ready, Jeff and Josh drove all throughout the state meeting dispensary owners and getting our flower on to their shelves. That is how it all started. Today we are on the shelves of over 100 dispensaries in the state.

For more information, visit robotpharmer. com, or in person at 1212 E 1st St in Tulsa, or 208 S Park Dr in Broken Bow, OK.

JACK AND THE HEMPSTALK KEN GIBSON, NYC 2021

W

hile 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 metres. 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 Page 30 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

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.

J HEART CBD

ARTICLE BY STACEY LOVETT

J Heart CBD is a womanowned 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.

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.

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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

San A Canna San-a-Canna is San Antonio’s first fully vertically integrated CBD company. From seed to harvest, the crew of five grow, process, and manufacture CBD while focusing on extraction as the main function of their business.

M

ichael La Peer, the Director of Operations, oversees the company’s outdoor and indoor tunnel grows in addition to the manufacturing and sales processes. San-a-Canna focuses on producing boutique-style flower to better serve the needs of their white label clients.

The company invested its first grow season into three specific premium-grade strains

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that met genetic expectations and weren’t widely available on the market: Grape Soda, Purple Cowboy, and their favorite Cat Lady. In addition to the raw flower, the company offers tinctures, edibles, and smokables—which are fully available in its white label selection and personal retail line.

San-a-Canna uses mobile extraction units–an underutilized convenience in the Texas CBD market. Mobile extraction

units are individual transportable units fully equipped with extraction equipment, which allow the facility to go directly to farmers rather than farmers shipping the product out to a brick-and-mortar extraction facility. The umbrella company over San-aCanna, Davies Enterprises, constructs and fabricates the mobile units that farmers can have on-site at their grow property. Participating farmers are trained on the entire process after they apply for licensing.

The company has two primary focuses: 1) distribute mobile extraction units across Texas to accommodate farmers, especially in rural areas; 2) provide white label products to local CBD entrepreneurs—who make up half of the company’s business.

San-a-Canna have also made their business a one-stop shop by adding an in-housing branding component to handle graphics and labelling of products in the initial investment of either a pre-existing profile or customized product.

Cameron Davies made his ownership of San-a-Canna public shortly after the company hit 2 years in business on September 28th, 2021. Davies is a prominent name in San Antonio due to his successful Cruising

Kitchens venture – which has gained world renown for its high-end custom fabrications — and investor interest in San-a-Canna has skyrocketed because of Davies’s involvement.

As San-a-Canna continues to build and scale its own local empire, the San Antonio-based company strives to pioneer the budding cannabis industry in Texas and beyond.

THE NOW AND FUTURE OF YELLOW ACRES FARM INTERVIEW BY SANA V’RITZVAH

Aran Arriaga is the Founder of Yellow Acres Farm Texas Hemp Reporter: So how does it feel to be out in the Texas country and farming hemp?

Adan: We’re in East Texas about 30 miles out of Louisiana. It’s pine country, hot, Jasper County. It’s great I grew up here, this is our family farm so...

Texas Hemp Reporter: What strains are you presently growing?

Adan: There are two: we have Cherry Wine and Otto II x BaOx. Both are high CBD content plants, above 6%, legal THC percentage of course.

Texas Hemp Reporter: What is your experience of the Texas Hemp Industry?

Adan: I find Texas to work as a team.

The farmers, manufacturers, samplers, they band together networking. Texas can become the lead in the country in hemp production; Matt Buchanan did some sampling for us, then follow up then there’s Greg of Sweet Sensi, he works with us on rosin press extraction. I think our farm

hopes to become a disrupter especially of outside raw hemp coming from out of state. Yellow Acres Farm (YAF) is a relatively small farm 85 acres but we plan to enlarge, improve our business model through growth.

Texas Hemp Reporter: What are your opinions on the Texas laws on growing hemp?

Adan: This year our team invested in lobbying, down at the Capitol, approached the House and Senate you know there’s a split in the community as well as the laws, marijuana versus hemp. The laws are are jumbled and the legislators don’t seem to study up on the difference between those industries. The scientific nomenclature versus the legal is all off, there was a bill introuduced that would bundle hemp with cannabis and marijuana, and this is bad for growers. We need to insure that our businesses, our livelihoods are safe and we need to band together to amplify our interests. We did have a positive development hemp farmers now have a window of testing extended from 15 to 30 days, but this is only the beginning.

Texas Hemp Reporter: Is the Texas soil great for growing hemp?

Adan: We do a lot of enhancement work with our soil here, it’s a bit sandy. We are all natural so we add compost, minerals, microbiology, we practice replenishment.

Yet the Texas climate is super for high CBDyielding strains, the humidity these plants thrive on. So I believe we will become the lead producer of hemp as growers in the future.

Texas Hemp Reporter: Who does your team consist of?

Adan: There’s four of us, my brother Saulo who handles kind of the Operations manager position. And there’s the “bad boys of hemp” from San Antonio. Issac is our Brand Management person, handling marketing, networking and then Joshua who is our main farmer: he’s a real cultivator, checking details like the ph of water used, soil testing microremediation, composting, etc.

Texas Hemp Reporter: What about your R&D aspects?

Adan: I used to work in the beverage industry.

I saw a lot of issues there especially concerning cannabis-infused drinks. Canada is a country that does a ton of research into cannabis.

They have accumulated many patents. We

had approached a Canadian Pharmaceutical company, in order to see if we could license one of their products. They couldn’t but I learned all about the issues of delivery of cannabinoids. Nano-emulsions, CBD, CBG, Delta-8 etc. For instance canning: the innerlining is often lipid-resistant creating a short shelf-life. And many consumers also want a translucent beverage for themselves. Well CBD oil has color, some of the organolipids do as well. So we have been developing the quality of how these cannabinoids can be delivered as well as naturally preserved.

And these processes are not limited to drinks, tinctures and topicals also. It’s a learning process.

Yellow Acres has a patent-pending for “A Method of Extraction for Immediate and Extended Release of Cannabinoids.”

We’re concentrating on a process of singledose extended duration release for both products and extractions.

We also think that licensing our IP can be very beneficial to other growers and researchers as well as developers. We hope to see the YAF label on a CBD beverage soon.

And we’d like to develop gummies and candies and show them on the website. Being a farm we grow lots of vegetables so we’re using a burpless cucumber to create a Yewllow Acres Farm brand of pickles too!

Yellow Acres has a patent-pending for “A Method of Extraction for Immediate and Extended Release of Cannabinoids.” We’re concentrating on a process of single-dose extended duration release for both products and extractions.

Why California-based CBD Seed Labs is an ideal supplier for Texas hemp farmers

BY RACHEL NELSON

Moses Levin and Dan Marinelli, both seasoned cannabis cultivators, crossed paths when their kids shared a kindergarten class.

“I was in charge of the school garden,” said Marinelli, who has a degree in horticulture from UCLA. “I have a love for horticulture and growing plants.”

The two soon realized their common love for hemp farming. When it was federally legalized in 2019, they embarked on a venture to discover, breed and refine what they believe to be the best legal CBD seeds for their particular climate. That’s when CBD Seed Labs was born.

Although located in Southern California, the business caters to Texas farmers because of the environmental similarities.

“A lot of what we do in our genetic development is called climate tuning, which means picking out the best varieties to reproduce that tolerate the challenges of a particular climate,” Levin said. “The particular climate that we’re in has a variety of challenges that match very well with what the Texas farmer has.”

From heat and high humidity to sometimes cold temperatures, CBD Seed Labs breeds plants that are resistant to those challenges, giving the seeds an advantage to those that are produced in Colorado, Oregon and other states where there are vast climatic differences.

Additionally, “If you grab a map and draw a line from Southern California to Texas, you’re going to find that we’re at the same latitude, so we have the same light cycle, too,” Marinelli said.

Soil is also a factor. While there are many soil variants in Texas and California, Levin said one thing many of them have in common is their ability to drain quickly, which is exactly what hemp plants want.

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CBD Seed Labs emphasizes quality over quantity, offering only three seed strains: ACDC, Cherry Blossom and Mountain Mango. Each is robust and high-yielding with a high concentration of terpenes, or aromatic compounds. They also have consistent CBD-THC ratios that ensure the plants can be harvested legally.

“We’ve done a lot of that legwork for the farmer and gone through all sorts of specific genetics to lead us to the few that we do represent,” Levin said. “Our focus is genetic selection and choosing the best of the cycle to continually improve our seed strain.

Our goal with each reiteration is to stabilize them and improve them even further.”

Each of CBD Seed Labs’ strains is also 99.9% feminized with 99% viability.

“Growing feminized seeds is almost a no-brainer in the industry these days,” Levin said. “Growing a crop that has males in it is almost always doomed to failure if you’re growing CBD flower.”

CBD Seed Labs also prides itself on its exceptional customer service, providing consultations and helping with product distribution when requested.

“We are a small family-run business,” Levin said. “We answer the phone. We answer questions. We want to see our farmer’s succeed.”

In addition, CBD Seed Labs pours 100% of its efforts into seed production, which means they are not competing with farmers.

“We have a deep connection with all our products, and we want to offer expertise,” Marinelli said. “We want people to succeed, and we like working with other small family-run operations with a similar mindset.

It’s a relationship business for us. We definitely try not to be that company where customers are numbers. Customers are part of the family.”

BUILDING A HEMPYRE

BY MINA HEGAARD

You cannot get into this nascent industry if your heart is not in the right place. All you cash is king, money talks, bottom dollar thinkers will be sorted out expediently.

In a town where the average age of the farmer is 651, Devon Sharp and Alex Gans are infusing the industry with the kind of youthful vision that can change the world.

It’s the 3rd week in September and Sharp’s family farm in Victoria, TX, that once raised quarter horses, is now the site for a 4 acre hemp grow that has just successfully removed almost 10,000 Suver Haze and Special Sauce plants that are drying and waiting to be extracted, right on schedule.

Sharp greets me with a giant hug after leading me from the point of lostness by the GPS back to the site. I can see multiple projects transpiring at once under the searing blue Texas sky. A barn is under construction while being occupied by several trimmers at work including Gans. Drapes of buds dangle amidst dehumidifying contraptions while fans blast from long extension cords connected to the house beyond. Electricity is currently being installed, with recently dug and refilled trenches showing the layers of clay like soil overturned at the top.

1

Matt Bochat, Victoria County Texas A&M AgriLife extension agent

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Sharp and Gans are dug in deep. Using their collective skill sets to navigate their new business, they plan to build Hempyre into a vertical operation that grows, processes, manufactures and markets wholesale and retail CBD products, and eventually fiber as the industry evolves.

We stand in the now near bare field under a circling hawk’s watchful eye discussing pests, planting methods, the recent unusual rains and the future of CBD and industrial hemp. As all newcomers to the field, the partners have been faced with the uncontrollable adversities of nature such as too much rain, pesky pests and nutgrass; all to be combatted organically by the creative vision of Hempyre.

Sharp and Gans are dug in deep. Using their collective skill sets to navigate their new business, they plan to build Hempyre into a vertical operation that grows, processes, manufactures and markets wholesale and retail CBD products, and eventually fiber as the industry evolves.

Hempyre is the first farm in Victoria, TX to take advantage of the newly formed hemp regulations. The Hempyre dream began it’s

germination on paper in December 2020, but when suddenly, Sharp found himself needing to pivot from his career in IT, it opened the door to get rolling on the plans sooner than expected.

Gans still maintains a full-time day job with a tech company, while moonlighting evenings and weekends on the farm. He diagnoses plant disorders, brainstorms hydroponic solutions, joins in the heavy lifting, and keeps the operation on budget with his background in finance, while Sharp manages daily operations, fields public relations, and heads up R and D projects with the help of his grandfather, Robert Sparkman II, a chemical engineer who has designed machinery for local companies like Dow and Union Carbide.

Together they’ve designed the first prototype of what they hope to be a new method of extraction that will not require the use of solvents. This machine, being a key piece to the vertical part of their plan, when perfected will also provide another stream of income to Hempyre when other farmers send their flowers in for processing, as well as the machine itself could be custom built

and for sale, with the ability to process up to 20 lbs at a time.

The partners plan to develop products and possibly a retail facility in the town of Victoria, but time will tell as there are many directions that can be taken as the future of hemp takes shape. Growing industrial hemp for fibers is also a discussion they are having, but like most hemp farmers in Texas, they do not have access to the necessary infrastructure to process it yet.

With the fluctuations in market prices of flower, and nature’s endless unpredictability, every bit of innovation helps, as well as having supportive suppliers, consultants and allies on your team. This harvest may not have happened had they not chosen Oregon CBD, a seed supplier who went beyond expectations by replacing 100% of their original order when all odds went against them with weather, tiny pests, fungus, and ill advice. Service like this promotes victory in this new industry, and showing that kind of support means success over failure for new farmers out here in the trenches paving the way, putting their necks on the line, and experimenting and investing with their own

resources. This is the way to build customer satisfaction and loyalty, and get rave reviews and referrals that pay out in the long run, which is what we are all hoping for. There are many options available to this new generation of farmer when it comes to selecting vendors, and cultivating relationships is a huge part of success. Operations willing to grow with this generation of innovators and explorers are worth the effort to seek out.

If you have been in this industry for more than a year, you know how sketchy and unpredictable it can be. For those of us with our hearts in the right places, we will find each other, support each other, and grow this industry into a giant support system of innovators with the same vision; to restore the planets health while creating a profitable small business economy once again in this country. Having each other’s backs to take back our economy from the current destructive corporate mindset, together, on small farms, we can prosper with a sustainable vision. Together, we are the ones who are going to make a difference by collectively making the soil healthy again.

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DALLAS HEMP CO.

BY STAFF

T

he Dallas Hemp Company (DHC) was founded in 2018 by Shan Claudio, Chief Executive Officer, and Adam Copeland, Chief Operations Officer. Shan and Adam grew up in East Dallas, both overcoming childhood adversities.

Though both were in and out of boys’ schools as they were growing up, today they lead the DHC, a successful and still growing startup going into its third year. They are both proud fathers of two children each; Shan is a single father of two girls, while Adam is raising a boy and a girl also as a single father.

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Shan and Adam met in 2012 at the catering event staffing, where they worked until 2014. Having learned the business and seeing much room for growth, they joined and successfully built a partnership, CoHost Event Staffing, for two years and brought in 1.2 million dollars in sales per year. Following that venture, Shan and Adam once again realized the need to diversify and expand their services, so in 2018 they decided to start their own company, the DHC. To that end, they committed to thoroughly prepare themselves and learn all aspects of that business. They met with farmers, growers and distributors to bolster their expertise, and set up hemp cultivation and distribution agreements.

While the DHC is barely into its third year, because of Shan’s and Adam’s never-ending energy and focus, the company has greatly expanded its services. The DHC offers an online store, packaging, branding, labeling, distribution, product manufacturing, consulting, sales and marketing services, wholesale and retail, and web and graphic design, as well as provide related subjects education and function as an expert resource for cannabis startup and other topics relating to the business.

Quality Ingredients & Sustainable Packaging At Sweet Sensi we go one step further with all our packaging being either compostable, reusable or recyclable. We firmly believe in transparency with our customers. As consumers ourselves it is important to know what we are putting in and on our bodies. Therefore we will never cut corners nor take short cuts with our growing process, extraction method and the ingredients we use in all our products.

From Seed To Sale Sweet Sensi is setting the standard for artisanal CBD products. We grow top-quality hemp, extract CBD naturally in small batches, and make our products by hand. We believe that the quality of the whole product matters, so we exclusively use organic ingredients.

Heat + Pressure. That's It. We never use chemicals or solvents to extract CBD from our grown-in-house hemp. Instead we use a warm press to squeeze out a CBD rosin that then goes into all of our products.

Services Here at Sweet Sensi, we utilize the entire plant the way nature intended. Along with that, it’s in our nature to help out where we can. In doing so, we offer a list of services to help those grow & maintain their business within the Hemp community. Below are a list of the few things we do to help you and your business succeed.

White Label

Consulting Processing Manufacturing Curing

For more information pertaining to any of these or even if you just have questions, feel free to

’

CONTACT US

b

INFO@SWEETSENSICBD.COM

;

DELTA-8 CASE TRO DENIED BY DISTRICT JUDGE

BY JESSE WILLIAMS

Monday morning the 261st district judge in Travis county denied the plaintiff, Sky Marketing, a temporary restraining order on the issue of delta-8.

T

he district judge, Gary D. Harger, decided against issuing a TRO against DSHS or the state on the matter on the basis that the plaintiff has not met the requirements of a temporary restraining order.

Hometown Hero announced shorting after 11 a.m. on their YouTube channel about the update as well. In the video owner notes that Sky Marketing is DBA (doing business as) Hometown Hero.

Owner and founder Lukas Gilkey noted in the video as well, “As a result, we will not be selling Delta-8 products and we’re marking them as out of stock on our website until further notice.”

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The judgment read, “Based upon the pleadings and arguments of Council, the court finds the plaintiff has not met the requirements of a temporary restraining order. It is therefore ordered that the application for temporary restraining order is denied.”

Andrea Steel, a cannabis attorney in the state of Texas, noted to TCC “This case is

about the rule of law and calling for the state to follow it. Every business in every industry should be concerned about a regulatory agency modifying law without following its own legally mandated procedures, and doing so in a manner that turned law-abiding businesses and consumers into potential felons without their knowledge.”

Steel then points out that the sheer amount of immediate uproar in the industry since DSHS updated its website last Friday makes clear the lack of transparency that took place. Practically no one in the industry knew what happened until after the fact, and several thousand didn’t know until last week.

“The good actors in the industry are not opposed to – and in fact invite – appropriate regulation that protects businesses and consumers. All or none approaches don’t serve anyone and instead cause more harm. This blossoming industry is creating jobs, bringing in tax revenue, and provided people with access to products that improve their daily lives,” Steel pointed out in her conversation.

Steel wrapped up saying that this is a just a snapshot of the negative trickle-down effect happening in the hemp industry nationwide federally as we continue to sit and wait for the FDA to issue regulations regarding CBD and other consumable hemp-derived cannabinoids. Confusion abounds.

A temporary injunction hearing has been set for Nov 5 at 9:00 A.M.