September 2021

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THE PURSUIT OF BALANCE

ARTICLE BY MISTY CONTRERAS, PHOTOGRAPHER KELSI WILBERS

A

nita Sommers, the CBD Genie, has had multiple speaking engagements addressing conference attendees and educating them on the benefits of cannabis and CBD for the past four years, ever since she got her diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. With a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and a minor in Chemistry, and being a Certified Microbiology Technologist, Anita is a powerful proponent for the industry. Here she is to share her knowledge and experience with Texas Hemp Reporter.

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Texas Hemp Reporter: What are you working on now?

Anita Sommers: I’m 50% owner of this farm in Coupland, Tx. It takes time to get to know the land and really understand the topography, the way it lays, what grows where, where the water collects when it rains, where it floods, all those things are really important to learn before you put some serious funds into a project like this. So, I’m just taking my time, getting to know the space, and getting ready. I just want to incorporate all of Mother Earth. I know cannabis is amazing

but I just want to educate and talk about it as a whole and the science behind it and why it’s so amazing. I am learning about cultivation from my fellow hemp growers and getting into the biochemistry stuff and it’s a beautiful learning experience for all of us.

That’s what I did all last year during quarantine, I was getting the hands-on experience and learning. I’m planning to produce hemp on my farm. Just like a human being, if you have a wonderful environment, chances are, statistically you are going to do better if you’ve got resources and access. With a plant, it’s the same thing. Sometimes when I’m working, it’s like I hear the Benny Hill theme playing in my head because I’m running around, going back and forth, back and forth! But I would prefer this type of environment because this is how you build your immune system, with UV light.

THR: Can you tell us a little about what brought you to the CBD industry?

Anita: I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a gastrointestinal ailment that is this gnarly inflammation of your large intestines and I went in and out of the hospital with that for over a decade. When I was in the Air Force for eight and half years, I did what they told me. And later I went to the VA and I did all of the things: the steroids, the antibiotics. I understand the opioid crisis personally.

When you’re given these heavy-hitter drugs, your biochemistry completely changes, you’re at the mercy of these chemicals. You can develop other disorders and weird symptoms and then you get prescribed something else for that. So, it’s just this vicious cycle that I was in. I was just a slave to my bowels.

Understanding and having the knowledge about cannabis and its benefits, I began to wonder, what’s the story behind it’s unavailability in the state of Texas? What am I missing here?

So, in my first year, I traveled all around the country and I did walk-throughs of cannabis farms, hemp farms, high THC farms, cannabis analytical diagnostic labs, dispensaries, all of it. I was even in the courtroom against former U.S. Attorney General Sessions, in the state of New York, when Alexis Boatel’s family and the other plaintiffs were basically stating that it’s unethical classifying cannabis as a schedule 1 drug. I support that statement 100%. To not have access to nature is silly and unethical. So,

I did all that traveling and I went to cannabis conferences and then I came back to Texas, and having learned all of these things, I was like, okay, anytime anyone is putting on a cannabis event, know and think of me as a cannabis science communicator because I blended in what I already knew, where I went and traveled and what I learned about, and I brought it together as a liaison from the two different sides, and now I just want to talk about it. So, the beauty of it is, when I went on my journey, I was in Vegas for MJBizCon. It’s HUUUGE! People come from all over the world to share what they’ve got, it’s a marijuana business conference. I had a flare-up. So I’m like, “are you kidding me?” I’m out here doing all of this and now, I already know, I’m going to end up in the hospital. But wait a minute, this time I had access to cannabis and I had the opportunity to find out, what are my options? What could I choose? I was in a place where there was everything under the sun and every single administration method. And so, it was actually a suppository. I mean, I think lawmakers and opponents of marijuana must think that people just want to smoke and get high. But all the different methods of administration bring the body into balance and in this case it was a suppository that did that for me. My fever slowly went away, that does not happen normally.

Usually, I would be in the hospital for like two weeks, and the doctors would always be telling me that they were going to have to remove a portion of my large intestine. And they told me

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would even be having this conversation in Texas as a medical professional!

that every single time, until finally I was like, “nature!” instead of all these synthetic drugs.

So for the first time I dodged the hospital. For me, that was HUUUGE! My weakness became my strength. This is not an ice-breaker, to talk about dysentery or anal bleeding, nobody is going to say that. As a medical professional though, when it comes to gastrointestinal is-

sues, over 70% of this country is sick and so I’m aware of that and I’m willing to take one for the team and talk about a subject that most people may not want to approach. That is my personal reason, however, I don’t like to focus so much on the ailment, I like to focus on the science of it. Why it’s effective. Don’t even think about the ailment. Think about what is happening when

a medical professional! So, just that small step, in and of itself, of me being terrified to even talk about it, to where I am today, is HUUUUGE! Unfortunately, at the higher levels of legislation, they have their own beliefs and don’t listen to the people. So, you kind of have to just keep going and realize the value of voting and being heard and just being a part of it. I am taking the responsibility to be a part of it with the education because I don’t know, I have heard and seen both sides. People say Texas will be one of the last ones, but you never know- we are making moves, it’s just very, very slow. It’s cool to be where we are but it’s sad because we don’t have access and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m not teaching anyone anything new, I’m just presenting it in a different way.

these chemistries combine. And then it just changes and opens the whole Pandora’s box of the beauty of nature.

THR: To the layman, can you explain the endocannabinoid system?

Anita: I always say, “are you thinking about breathing right now?” Probably not, but your respiratory system’s got you. You’re not thinking about doing it, you’re not in control of your heartbeat, your cardiovascular system has got you there. If you’re healthy, your immune system’s working for you like, “go team, go!”

There’s all of that and more in terms of physiology. All of those systems of the body work together to give you balance. The endocannabinoid system is simply another system. Another way that the body can communicate within itself or introducing nature to the body so that you can maintain homeostasis or bring yourself to balance, whatever you’re deficient in, whatever’s going on, the beauty is that we match to nature. The endocannabinoid system helps regulate balance via the receptors, CB1 and CB2.

The CB1 receptors are primarily found on our neuron cells. The CB2 receptors are primarily found on our immune response cells.

We have endocannabinoids, anandamide and 2AG (2-Arachidonoyl glycerol), phytocannabinoids, and terpenes. These compounds match, lock and key, to these receptors that we have internally. When these compounds work together, that’s called the entourage effect. When all of our systems work together, including the endocannabinoid system, we can maintain homeostasis (balance). I know that sounds wild but let’s not complicate it. In simple terms, everything that brings you joy, whether it be meditating, yoga, the runner’s high is another Page 8 • www.TexasHempReporter.com great example, you’re releasing the happy

chemicals. When you’re stressed out, your cortisol levels go up. The endocannabinoids are also your happy chemistry, your happy signals. That chemistry binds to the surface of our cells. Cannabis mimics that beautiful happy chemistry and it can also work with our cannabinoid receptors that are found on the surface of our cells. So, the beauty is to just unlock the secrets of nature’s chemistry and understand our own chemistry and bring it together with the endocannabinoid system.

THR: How do you see the future of legalization of marijuana in Texas?

Anita: Because I’m aware that this is a marathon, not a race, I feel like continuing to be the light of all of this and educating the values and the facts of everything behind this plan, inevitably we will get there.

We’re fighting for crumbs here in the state of Texas. But, how about this, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would even be having this conversation in Texas as

THR: What’s next for the CBD Genie?

Anita: Well, I mention this to raise awareness and so that your readers can look it up for themselves. In Vegas, there is a Women in Cannabis Conference in September. I hope to be able to be there. But, in terms of my farm, I would love to have a vertical integration space where I could do cultivation, do in-house testing, and then be able to put out a product.

Right now, my main goal is to bring Mother Earth back to life and provide for her. The space where we are now, we have a blue oyster mushroom patch, and that’s going to help with the ecosystem underground. Soil health is very important, so I intend to start with the mushrooms, and then a butterfly garden, to help with the pollinators, because they will add so much value to the crops. I’m building the space, but I’m doing it with collaborators, so that way, the rest of the place will flourish.

THR: Any final thoughts for our readers today?

Anita: We really have lost touch, with all that’s going on in the world, all of this uncertainty, it’s a time to really reconnect with the land and all the answers are there. We have to go by her schedule, too. You can plan whatever you want, it doesn’t matter! You have to go by Mother Earth’s schedule, whatever she says goes, she is the boss. She’s like, “I don’t care what you do, but that rain capturing system must be done by Friday, thank you!” You have to roll with it and know that you are not in control. When you know that, you’re okay.

For more information on Anita Sommers visit thecbdgenie.com.

VETERANS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORIES:

Setting a new standard in Hemp Testing?

It is getting about that time in Texas as we are weeks away (by the time this article is published) for farmers to begin harvesting their hemp crops. With that, Texas and Federal Law dictate that all hemp production be tested for THC limits as well as other things such as pesticides and harmful products. The law states that hemp can not have more than .3% THC content, or the crop has to be destroyed (refer to your state and/or local laws pertaining to THC amounts and disposal processes). I got to spend the afternoon with James W Johnson Jr. (Co-Owner) of Veterans Scientific Laboratories which has 25+ years experience in analytical analysis in cannabis, environmental, and medical fields to discuss what to look for and why testing is so important as a farmer growing hemp.

Lee: James, why did you start Veteran Scientific Laboratories?

James: As a military veteran, I spent 8 years as a medical lab technician with the United States Air Force so medical testing is something I have experience in. There are many labs that do a great job of being transparent and accurate with testing. But there are just as many out there that decide to engage in some unethical things like alter readings in order to skirt the rules in order to make a buck. That Page 10 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

in turn not only hurts the farmer that grows hemp, but the entire industry as a whole as that dishonesty can cost people their jobs, hemp businesses, and in some cases legal repercussions. The hemp industry is a new open frontier, especially here in Texas so setting a standard that goes above the minimum in order to bring consistency and integrity was something I wanted to be apart of in order to help farmers and the industry grow in a positive way.

Lee: You mention farmers quite a bit in our conversations. I know here in Texas many farmers in their inaugural year of planting did not do to well. Aside from issues with poor seed genetics and other regional issues, how did testing play a role in helping or hurting farmers?

James: In 2016 I assisted Oklahoma hemp farmers with obtaining their permits to grow hemp for fiber with my company JJGro. That was a huge learning experience as hemp was not allowed to be grown or produced there prior to 2016. So, I was able to see all of the good and the bad that took place during that transition. Once Texas passed legal growing and the first licenses were issued in 2020, I saw many of the same issues come up again. What was consistent is the fact that many farmers lack a true and thorough understanding of how the industry works and confusion on many of the laws set in place by the state when it comes to growing. That lack of education is what can make the difference of a farmer being successful or failing. I want to assist farmers with providing education and knowledge on what it is they are growing and to help set them up for success. The relationships that were formed with JJGro and the assistance of the Oklahoma process, Veterans Scientific Laboratories was formed.

Lee: I agree. Growing up in the farm and cattle ranching industry as a kid, farmers are the foundation that helps this country stay fed and clothed. Even today, deals in the farming industry are still done with a hand shake in many cases.

James: Exactly! That is what I love about the farm industry, a hand shake still means something. Your word still means something to the men and women that are out every single day growing commodities that keep this country moving. Unfortunately, that is something that has been lost in many other industries,

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if you are growing hemp for consumption and extraction, that farmers potential crop price will be based off a full panel test to show that it is clean of solvents, pesticides, toxins, mold and just as important, the quality of CBD and terpene content. Fourth, it is the law here in Texas as well as other states. In short, lab testing is something that everyone in the hemp industry needs. even the hemp and cannabis industry due to technology. The fact that I am working with people that still believe in a hand shake and your word has value, brings a lot of satisfaction as well as it is something farmers still look for and believe in.

Lee: How is Veterans Scientific Laboratories helping farmers in the Texas hemp industry?

James: First is offering farmers FREE education when it comes to farming hemp and assisting them through the legal and state process so they can start off on the right foot. At VSL, we educate farmers and others on the difference between “industrial” hemp and “medical or consumable” hemp with our Hemp 101 seminars. Those growing processes are different and knowing the kind of hemp one intends to grow allows that farmer to set up their farm operations the correct way and depending on the type of crop (industrial in particular), set up those important contracts prior to planting a seed so they are not stuck with 100’s or 1,000’s of pounds of product rotting in a storage facility. That is just one example of how some industrial hemp farmers got burned in 2020 as they planted and farmed industrial hemp without ever having a contract in place for someone to buy it. Educating is just one way to build trust amongst the farming community which allows us to continue to help and serve the foundation of an industry growing in its infancy here in Texas and abroad.

Lee: I love that VSL has a real education process. That is a service that I have not seen by any other lab in the industry. So, VSL is more than just a testing lab?

James: Absolutely we are! We pride ourselves on being a critical asset to our clients in more ways than just testing. As I said earlier, Page 12 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

I want to help farmers succeed so to do that we go above and beyond the norm. Our lab director Garvin Beach runs our ISO/ IEC accredited lab and handles various testing options such as potency testing, full panel testing, hemp fiber analysis, and etc. But we also assist with shipping and storage of product, research/equipment consultation, and brokering of sales for tested products if a client needs those additional services.

Lee: For new farmers to the industry, what are some general recommendations that you can offer them?

James: First, know your federal, state, and local laws. They are set up for the farmer to be in the know as they will be held accountable. Two, regularly test your crop! In Texas your limited to .3% Total THC. If that crop tests hot, then it has to be destroyed. So early and regular testing prior to cultivation is important to in order to know how your crop is progressing as far as Total THC potency levels and gives the farmer an accurate time frame on when to harvest their crop prior to it reaching unacceptable levels of Total THC. Third, especially

Lee: How long does testing normally take?

James: If we are testing for fiber, that process normally takes about 5 days due to the manual process that we have to go through for that testing. Potency and full panel testing normally takes about 72 hrs or we can knock it out in 24 hrs if a client needs it expedited.

All in all, we are pretty quick at getting that done as we understand time is money when it comes to crops and getting those crops sold.

Lee: Last question before we go. What do you want clients to remember about VSL as far as a reputation and what VSL stands for?

James: That’s easy and the core is something that I brought over from my military career.

Integrity first and foremost, service before self, and excellence in all that we do and provide for our clients. Add a lot of humor into that mix and we have what we believe is a recipe for success that translates into success for our clients.

Lee: James, thank you so much for allowing us into your amazing facility and teaching us about the process of lab testing and giving us a personal look at how Veterans Scientific Laboratories is changing the hemp industry with professional services to help people be successful when it comes to the new commodity of hemp in Texas. If anyone has questions, concerns, or wants to know more about testing or growing hemp how can they get a hold of you?

James: They can visit our website at www.vetscilabs.com or www.JJGro.com or they can email me at james@jjgro.com or info@vetscilabs.com.

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and typically has no THC, which opens the door to many clients wanting to use hemp products without the THC. Another specialty we have but not necessarily a product, we like to educate and inform our clients about each of our products’ terpene profile and potential beneficial use.

THR: Can you describe your growing/processing operation?

Eddie: We are a family and veteran-owned Texas hemp company. We operate a boutique hemp farm, focusing on cultivating exceptional hemp genetic products for your wellness & culinary needs. Our farm consists of 6,000 sq ft of greenhouse growing space and a 2,000 sq ft indoor climate controlled dry house. We did a lot of research and visited hemp farms across the country, and we noticed that drying was essential in producing premium hemp flower.

THR: What are your hopes or expectations for the future of hemp farming?

Eddie: We involve our children in everything we do with the hemp farm – from planting seeds to the finished product. We hope to instill the knowledge and experience with them, so they can continue to redefine cannabis in Texas.

THR: How have the challenges you encounter every day helped you become a better farmer?

Last year was our first grow and everything was a challenge, from building the greenhouses to go-to-market strategies, to delivering our products. We’ve asked a lot of dumb questions over the past year which has helped navigate us through those farming challenges. Building a network and fostering positive relationships has helped us tremendously.

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Hill Country Weavers in Austin sells a hempbased yarn brand called Lang Canapa that is made in italy.

Suzanne Middlebrooks, owner of Hill Country Weavers, shows off a women’s top she made from hemp yarn.

Hemp yarn is the preferred choice for eco-conscious textile designers

BY RACHEL NELSON

Texas hobbyists have a growing affinity for hemp, particularly in the world of textile design.

Suzanne Middlebrooks, owner of Hill Country Weavers in Austin, said hemp is an ideal material for weaving in particular.

“I always think of it as more of a weaving yarn just because it’s so strong, and it doesn’t tend to go limp,” she said.

Middlebrooks said if she closes her eyes, it’s hard for her to feel the difference between a ball of linen and a ball of hemp. However, she noted that the longer fibers in hemp yarn make it a little sturdier. While Middleton sees hemp used more in interior applications (like placemats, table runners, totes and bags), it can also be a favorable option when it comes to making clothing.

“With linen and hemp both, the more you wear it, the more moisture it collects, the softer and drapier it gets,” Middlebrooks said. “Hemp just slightly has a little more ‘tooth’ to it than linen.”

While hemp is known for its durability, its growing popularity among weavers and knitters has much to do with the fact that it is plant-based (unlike wool or silk), making it a hit for the growing vegan community. However, plant-based does not always equal eco-friendly, Middleton said.

“Bamboo, for example, is not a clean fiber to create,” she said. “It’s very toxic. So even though we think, ‘because it’s natural and it’s replenishable and there’s so much of it and it grows fast,’ to break it down into a useful fiber, it uses a lot of chemicals.

“Bamboo yarn has that wonderful drape (like silk) that you want in a natural fiber, but with what you have to do to it, it’s really not natural anymore in my opinion. In fact, most of the bamboo yarn is produced in China, and they won’t even let you into the factories that make it because it’s so toxic.”

Hemp, on the other hand, is considered to be much more sustainable.

The Hill Country Weavers storefront in Austin.

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“Hemp is often considered a preferred fiber with less harmful environmental impact. Organic hemp is one of the most sustainable fibers you can use,” according to the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) website.

The Made-By Environmental Benchmark for Fibers compares the environmental impact of the most commonly used fibers in the garment industry. When it comes to sustainability, it gives organic hemp the best possible rating — an “A.” Non-organic hemp gets a “C” rating because it can cause harmful environmental impacts from chemical retting, bleaching and other processes.

So, for eco-conscious crafters, “it is important to really vet your supplier,” the CFDA states.

According to treehugger.com, hemp is a densely growing plant that chokes out competing weeds and reduces the need for pesticides.

It also requires half as much water as cotton to grow and only ¼ as much to process.

Often in the textile industry, hemp is mixed with another fiber like cotton to create a hybrid product. Levi’s is one of the major clothing brands that is using cottonized hemp to create a more durable and sustainable product.

Hill Country Weavers sells the Lang Canapa brand of hemp yarn that is made in Italy. Another popular brand is Hempathy, which was created by Swedish knitwear designer Elsebeth Lavold. It’s possible a broader variety of hempbased textile products will emerge in Texas since the state legislature legalized hemp farming in June 2019.

“It’s perfect for Texas,” Middleton said. “I really think for Texas specifically, hemp is a product that I would put in the same category as linen.

You wear it all year-round — it’s not seasonal.”

RECENT GUESTS Sid Miller Tommy Chong CBD Insurance of TX Freeway Rick Ross Ky-Mani Marley Sweet Sensi Dan Herer, Hemp Builders Assoc.

Oak Cliff Cultivators TFNB Bank Tejas Hemp COMING SOON Woody Harrleson PHISH Cheech Marin Steve DeAngelo Rep. Tracy King Ricky Williams

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PROPERTY AND CROP WARRANTIES SAFEGUARD REQUIREMENTS

Insurance Carrier’s View Of Properly Securing Your Indoor Inventory / Stock.

BY GREG BOWMAN To Ensure Proper Protection These Are Safe Guard Requirements To Insuring Your Indoor Product & Stock: Important Property and Crop Warranties, Safeguards, and Definitions;

CENTRAL STATION FIRE ALARM – SAFEGUARD REQUIREMENT Protecting the entire building and that is connected to a central station reporting to a public or private fire alarm station.

CENTRAL STATION BURGLAR ALARM – SAFEGUARD REQUIREMENT 1. To cover all openings in the insured’s premises 2. Motion detectors in all areas with the exception of living plant areas 3. Alarm must be in the “on” position during all non-working hours and/or whenever the insured’s premises are unoccupied.

SECURITY CAMERA’S – SAFEGUARD REQUIREMENT 1. All security cameras must be recording and all records must be backed up and retained for a minimum of 14 days 2. Interior Cameras monitoring the following: a. All doors and windows providing a means of egress into the building

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b. Display counters c. Exterior and interior of safe rooms, if on the premises d. Exterior and interior of all vault rooms, if on the premises e. Harvesting and trimming rooms, if on the premises 3. Exterior Cameras monitoring all means of egress to the building and the parking lot unless City Ordinances or laws prohibit monitoring of this area.

CROP, MARIJUANA, HEMP INVENTORY, AND STOCK DEFINITIONS 1. “Crop” means living plants grown for food, drugs, fibers, rubber, wood or other purpose at any stage of life cycle and includes the following: a. Live cannabaceae plant materials at any stage of life cycle, including but not limited to seeds, immature seedlings, plants in the vegetative growth state, unharvested buds and mature flowing plants rooted in growing medium; and b. Cannabaceae plants, including any part or component of the plant, no longer in the growing medium which are in the process of being dried; or c. Mature cannabaceae plant material, including any part or component of the plant, no longer in the growing medium which has

been completed the drying process and is ready for sale.

“Crop” does not include Cannabaceae plants that have completed the drying process but are retained by you for further processing, extracting, refining, or manufacturing operations.

“Crop” also does not include plant material, including any part or component of the plant, no longer in the growing medium which is purchased by you for the purpose of manufacturing 2. “Stock” means merchandise held in storage or for sale, raw materials and in-process or finished goods, including supplies used in their packing or shipping. “Stock” does not include” crop” or “marijuana inventory”.

3. “Marijuana Inventory” means finished marijuana stock and products containing marijuana and/or its derivatives defined as any component of the cannabaceae family. ***Beware: review your current policy to make sure it specifically states “Inventory/ Stock” not just Finished Stock. Finished Stock only cover items packed, labeled and ready to sell. Does not include raw materials or bulk inventory.

Feel free to contact us if you would like us to review your policy.

Regards, CBD-HEMP Insurance of Texas info@cbd-hemptexas.com 888-375-6132

CAS HALEY INTERVIEW BY RUSSELL DOWDEN

THR: Welcome to the program Cas, how are you man?

Cas Haley:Yeah man, good to be here.

Doing really good. At home in North East Texas just hanging out working on music and working in the garden ya know yeah man, good to be here.

THR: Well that’s cool. We had crossed paths and I had become a fan of your music after I was aware of you around in 2008, and then I think you came on one of my older shows maybe 10 or 11 years ago Cas. I still had your phone number so I threw your name in the hat for this event that’s coming up. I knew you were kind of a pro cannabis guy with your music and so I felt like you would be a great fit for this.

CH: Well, thanks for throwing my name into the hat for sure. Yeah definitely, I’m definitely a believer. I’m a believer in the utility in the medicinal qualities of all the wellness aspects of cannabis and hemp in general. Big fan.

THR: Very cool, and I thought you would be a great fit for this and they (Sweet Sensi) reached out and you guys were able to work something out. That’s Carson Creek Ranch here in the Central Texas area over by the Austin airport that’s October 23.

Our friend Cas Haley will be performing, we’ve got Ky-Mani Marley who is going to be performing. There are some local artists like Gary P Nunn, the Mau Mau Chaplains, The Supervillains, Big Mon, Soulfire Will be there. So, great artists. I just want to ask as we get this going, Cas, have you ever shared a stage with any of the Marley family?

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CH: You know, I have yes, losing my frame of thought. I have played with the oldest.

THR: Ziggy?

CH: Ziggy yes THR: Well there are a lot of them.

CH: I’ve shared the stage with Ziggy out in Cleveland at the House of Blues once, but really looking forward to seeing Ky-Mani do his thing of course I’m a huge Bob Marley and Marley Family fan.

THR: Yes, you are a fan. I know I’ve seen and heard it in your work over the years. And you pop up occasionally in my Spotify playlist actually, with some of your salutes to Marley actually. I hope you and your family are actually doing really well and I wanted to ask you about a track that I heard last year.

I don’t know if this came out in 19 or 20 but I heard it late either late 19 early 20,

but that track Every Road I’m On was a very popular song. I was made aware of it. Was that the track Cas, that was attached to the Lincoln campaign with your collaboration with Lincoln and Matthew McConaughey on that project.

That was the track that I recall right?

CH: Yeah yeah that was that was the song.

It was Lincoln. They were doing this song writing competition called Chart Your Course. And we wrote that song in the summer of 2019, and then I entered it into that crazy contest that October, and that was the song that sort of sealed the deal for us for the Lincoln partnership thing that we did.

Pretty spectacular.

THR: Yeah that was really cool. I mean I was like watching football one day and there you are on TV at my halftime or something and I was like, “wow hey look at Cas stepping his game up.”

What inspired the track Every Road I’m

didn’t mix, but we had planned for a couple weeks and we cut that short and everybody went home. So everybody stayed for a couple weeks right in the middle of it.

THR: You and your family had some challenges when your wife Cassy was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. And this led to kind of to you guys, you guys didn’t write songs together previously. That event brought you guys together and kinda got Cassy in on the writing process, and that’s how some of those tracks come together. I heard or read online that Kelly’s Song song was about one of Cassy‘s friends that also got cancer. Can you expand on how Cassy came into the writing fold as your wife and collaborated with you? It is such a sweet story.

CH: Yeah man it’s definitely pretty magical.

Me and Cassie, we have been married for 22 years and you know for the first 18 years we were creative in the garden with our children.

But we had never really considered writing songs. I didn’t know she was really interested and I’m not sure if she was. And then and I guess in 2018 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was triple negative stage three, we were uninsured, we didn’t know what we were going to do, and our whole world was sort of turned upside down. And you know it was as we started figuring things out, Cassie started having this inspiration to write down how she was feeling. She started writing verses and poems and songs, and it became sort of her journal if you will.

And during that first six months after her diagnosis as she was going through chemotherapy we just sort of naturally started riding tunes. We started sitting down each day and working on songs. It was like this fountain of inspiration, literally our whole album Lessons and Blessings which was inspired by the whole journey, was really totally inspired by Cassie. She was coming up with all these ideas and all these things to say.

It was amazing to see creativity and expression be a part of her healing journey. It kept her mind off of all the bullshit that was happening and all the pain that was going down. She was right in the middle of chemotherapy and it was the worst of the worst. The red devil as far as the chemo cocktail, it was like the bad dude. With triple negative that’s pretty much all they have like a lot of the other new meds for cancer aren’t really available.

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THR: It was a heavy dose of cocktail to be under.

CH: So, you know writing became an escape and it became a way to express herself and to get in touch with how she was feeling about everything that was going down on a deeper level. And then you know that’s just sort of continued on where we just kept collaborating on songs and ideas. Cassy even started wanting to actually perform her songs and she always sang around the house, but she would never consider herself to be a singer or a writer but she’s faced... it’s just amazing when something like that happens, it puts everything in perspective of like, there’s all of these things that I’ve been telling myself that I don’t want to do. And then you’re like you know that’s all a lie, I wanna do all these things. So you start taking care of business, you start checking the list off of things of like, I’m gonna live my life and there’s no time to waste.

THR: You’re absolutely correct, I can speak to that, I was 30 and was in a fatal car wreck. I went to school I focused more on my broadcasting and publishing career.

And I just realized how precious life is when something dramatic happens to you.

CH: Yeah it sort of takes you out of that narrative and it brings you into reality in a deeper sense of there’s so much to live for and there’s so many things that I wanna be a part of. It was like a new birth for her, sort of like a death of an old self. A rebirth of someone new that had things to do. And Cassie says all the time our life has been blessed by this tragedy. She wouldn’t give back the world that has opened up to her now and how she feels and her overall happiness and health in general as a family. You know we sort of took everything by the reins that we could since there was so much out of our control. We decided to make a checklist of the things we could change. It’s been a real magical blessing, it’s been wild man. Life is pretty pretty wild.

Cas Haley: Interview

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THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW WILD HEMP® WON THE SMOKABLE HEMP BAN LAWSUIT

BY ZAIN MEGHANI

On August 23rd, 2021, smokable hemp products officially became legal to manufacture and sell in Texas. Many never noticed since the smokable hemp ban hadn’t been put into enforcement yet. Nevertheless, an invisible battle brewed between one company and the Texas Department of State Health Services, which ultimately decided the future of cannabis in Texas.

After the 2018 Farm Bill passed, legalizing hemp across the United States of America, an entirely new market emerged after decades of prohibition. At the that time, Global Tobacco® was the largest manufacturers of tobacco in Texas. Since tobacco manufacturing is a legacy industry with decreasing sales, Global Tobacco® was actively attempting to innovate and expand their product portfolio. When they heard the news that hemp was legalized, they saw this as their golden opportunity to completely revolutionize the smokables industry. Under the brand Wild Hemp®, they created the first cigarette styled hemp pre-roll in the world, called the Hempette®. This product spread like wildfire across America becoming the first nationally recognized brand associated with the smokable side of the hemp and CBD industry.

This success was soon met with struggle when the State of Texas passed regulations that attempted to ban the manufacturing and sale of smokable hemp in Texas. Fortunately for the hemp industry, the parent company of Wild Hemp® put forth litigation to challenge this law, which ultimately became the case Crown Distributing LLC, et al. v. Texas Department of State Health Services, et al. Crown Distribution LLC is the distribution arm of Global Tobacco® and is owned and run by the same management.

While Wild Hemp® was challenging this case in court, Texas granted a temporary injunction allowing manufacturers and distributors of smokable hemp to continue operations while the case was being tried. If this injunction wasn’t granted, all retail and wholesale sales of hemp would have had to cease in Texas, and Wild Hemp® would have had to move their entire manufacturing base from Texas to a cannabis friendly neighboring state such as Oklahoma. Hundreds of Texans work in manufacturing smokable hemp, mostly for the Hempette®, and would have to either lose their jobs or relocate to continue

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making money. Moreover, many Texas farmers who are investing in and growing hemp would have a harder time selling their crops, since there would be no local market for smokable hemp.

This would have put our farmers years behind other states in hemp and cannabis. Finally, Texas would lose out on millions of dollars in future tax revenue and economic growth.

The trial took over two years from putting forth the litigation to ultimately hearing the final verdict from Judge Lora Livingston. Not only did this take time, but it also took over $400,000 in legal fees mostly paid by Wild Hemp®. They also spent millions of dollars on a warehouse in Oklahoma before the injunction was granted, so that they could make sure their manufacturing continued no matter what happened.

Though the cost was steep, Wild Hemp® continued in their success and were able to grow their Hempette® to even higher sales and international recognition. Wild Hemp® have also expanded their smokable hemp line to include hemp wraps, disposable CBD vapes, and CBD cigarillos. With this victory under their belt, Wild Hemp® is excited for their future and are eager to develop and design more smokable hemp products in Texas.

To learn more about Wild Hemp® or the Hempette®, you can email us at hello@americajuiceco.com, call us at +1 888 968 8273, or visit www.wildhemp.com.

NATURALLY HEMPS

ARTICLE BY STACEY LOVETT

The conversation on Delta 8 has been a continuous hot topic in the state of Texas with many already invested in the hemp-derived product pushing for regulation over prohibition in the vested interest of their companies, the industry and the responsible consumer. Darrell Suriff of Naturally Hemps discussed with Texas Hemp Reporter how Delta-8 and the looming possibility of it’s legal status looks from a company standpoint.

N

aturally Hemps is an alternative solutions company under the umbrella of Naturally Distro which operates over 30 retail stores across Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee to include the Create A Cig Vape & Smoke franchise.

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The company manufactures a large variety of natural CBD, kratom, e juice vape and legal hemp related products out of their 30k square foot main manufacturing facility in Pflugerville. While they offer a variety of product on their name, Delta-8 specifically makes up about 20% of their gross business over the last

12 months moving into the largest growth category in the industry.

As this time period has also seen a tremendous amount of legislative process on the same topic, Suriff says it has been difficult to gauge business around potential legislation.

The fluctuation of legality is costly not only

as it comprises 20% of his revenue, but in considering the cost of entry into it as a manufacturer is quite extensive regarding liability, machinery, and wages for his 180 employees which all makes a huge impact on their bottom line.

While Delta 8 is fully legal in Tennessee, constant restructuring and vague state law keep him from selling it into his Louisiana stores. There are no clear cut guidelines currently for Delta 8 in our neighboring state and Texas leads between the two on education and communication between state officials and hemp businesses.

While Delta 8 is currently still fits into a legal category following the lack of advancement or changes in the hemp bill last legislative session, it’s status still stands on shaky ground.

States that have fully legalized cannabis are historically the ones who try and ban it most as they get taxation on THC but not off of Delta 8. Right now Texas has enacted the Compassionate Use Program effective September 1, 2021 which allows patients access, through their physician, to prescription low-THC cannabis in the treatment of medical conditions like cancer, autism, PTSD, and seizure disorders. The single operating medical marijuana license holder in the state have been the leaders in the ban on Delta 8 which lead many to question if they

We believe people have a right to self medicate, treat, or relax [with all variations of hemp derivatives] just as they would in a glass or 2 of wine or beer.

will simply see taxation on a state level or full market control. A drastic shift in the industry and lawmaking would not only cause large companies like Naturally Hemps to take a massive hit, but consumers as well as Suriff states, “We believe people have a right to self medicate, treat, or relax [with all variations of hemp derivatives] just as they would in a glass or 2 of wine or beer.” And with that statement backs it with the push for regulation beyond minors into consenting responsible adults.

Darrell Suriff himself knows the firsthand benefits it can bring with chronic pain and the success of his business was built on his own personal success story. A little over a decade ago, Suriff suffered a broken back which led to permanent rods placed in his spine and persistent pain.

His corporate insurance plan at the time offered many opioids at his disposal which

led to a year-long addiction before he discovered the benefits of Kratom, CBD, and, later, Delta-8. He was able to then craft a daily regimen with these products which allowed him to function without pain and without the use of opioids or any other addictive drugs.

From there he built his new endeavor of vape retails stores from an initial $26,000 investment into a $70,000,000 empire based on the products that saved his life – all organically with incremental growth.

With full understanding of the scope of all Delta-8 offers, and standing by what his own business and life is built on, Darrell Suriff hold his position alongside many other Texan hemp product manufacturers and retailers who call to maintain a regulated market on the product for the livelihood of Texans all around.

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CANNALAW UPDATE:

September New Laws Under House Bill 1535, signed by Governor Abbot on June 15th and taking effect September 1st, medical cannabis in TX is growing. The changes that will take effect in September will open access to medical cannabis in Texas for patients of two distinct populations, persons with cancer, and PTSD. Following is a brief bird’s-eye-view consideration of the science behind cannabis in relation to these conditions, concluding with the market changes in Texas. and sertraline, which have demonstrated only limited effectiveness. Cannabinoids derived from cannabis have been increasingly focused upon as a prospective treatment path for PTSD. Many studies have demonstrated that oral THC, as well as the synthetic cannabinoid nabilone, result in improvements to the symptoms of PTSD (Krediet et. al., 2020). The expansion of access to cannabis products for patients with symptoms of PTSD in Texas is a step towards the common trend. Despite this, limitations upon the roll-out make the Lone Star State continue to stand apart in terms of its positions on hemp/cannabis derivatives and components.

Cannabis is Receiving Increasing Attention in Cancer-Related Treatment Within the context of cancer, the endocannabinoid system is altered, and cannabis has been receiving an increasing amount of interest related to its clinical applications in providing treatment for cancer symptoms, or those associated with its treatment. Cannabinoids have displayed anticancer effects through suppressing the proliferation, migration, and/or invasion of cancer cells, and also contributes to tumor angiogenesis. Cannabis has additionally been used as a treatment of symptoms and pain that are associated with chemotherapy treatment (Tomko Page 32 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

et. al., 2020). These broad benefits highlight not only the importance of the availability of cannabis-based treatments, but also research to further learn what additional medicinal applications might be available in the cannabis sativa L plant.

PTSD-related Symptoms are Relieved through Cannabis

PTSD is an unfortunately common condition amongst soldiers. According to the journal Biological Psychiatry (2021) PTSD affects more than 30% of veterans returning from modern wars. At the time, only a few medications are approved for the treatment of PTSD, namely paroxetine

Everything is Bigger in Texas – Except THC Levels in Medical Cannabis

Some states with medical marijuana do not limit the amount of THC allowed, the part of cannabis that has psychoactive effects. Many users indicate THC as a source of relief from anxiety and various other mental health conditions. While the recent TX legislation increased the allowable THC level, it went from .5% to just 1% rather than the initially proposed 5%. 1% to some is considered quite low, so low that the beneficial psychoactive effects are minimalized.

In the public comments to HB1535, once Texan noted “I need this bill to pass but [it] needed to pass in a way that’s going to be effective and not just some piddly amount of

THC that won’t do any good and that won’t get me off of opioid pain medication.”

Those prescribed opioids were originally included as a new population capable of accessing medical cannabis in TX, although the revision to the bill cut this aspect.

Noting this, another public commenter stated “They will keep the THC content so low it wont [sic] do any good. Big pharma has to keep selling those oxycontin.”

While some are opposed to the low THC mandate of HB1535, another commenter on the bill noted “I currently use a legal CBD regimen that has done wonders for me, including tapering off medication.

The content is low because it’s to be used as a supplement to ease symptoms, not to get you lit.”

Texas is [slowly] Advancing Cannabis

The changes to TX’s medical cannabis policy will be beneficial to both patients and hemp businesses alike, limitations notwithstanding. HB 1535 also served to establish compassionate-use institutional review boards through which proposed

given that we’re entering the inter-session limbo of the TX legislature, a discussion of a trending cannabis [or maybe even psilocybin] topic, or interview with an industry player.

research studies to consider the medical use of low-THC cannabis in certain patient populations might be approved. Given that with cannabis research generally supports the value of its derivatives as treatment for a variety of conditions, such research is essential.

While an end to cannabis prohibition nationally would open the door to myriad cannabis-sourced treatment options and research paths towards developing more, this is positive progress nonetheless.

Tune in next issue to Attorney Westerman’s Cannalaw Update for any noteworthy developments, and if there aren’t any

Michael John Westerman, esq. www.mjwestermanlaw.com | CANNABIS: Hemp | PROPERTY: Landlord-Tenant | SPIRITS: Brewing/Distilling | in Texas

REFERENCES Feola, B., Flook, E., Gardner, H., Gwirtszman, H., Olatunji, B., & Blackford, J. (2021). Altered Anxiety Neural Circuit in Combat Veterans With PTSD. Biological Psychiatry, 89(9), S201.

Krediet, E., Janssen, D. G., Heerdink, E. R., Egberts, T. C., & Vermetten, E. (2020). Experiences with medical cannabis in the treatment of veterans with PTSD: Results from a focus group discussion. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 36, 244-254.

Tomko, A. M., Whynot, E. G., Ellis, L. D., & Dupré, D. J. (2020). Anti-cancer potential of cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids present in cannabis. Cancers, 12(7), 1985.

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WELLNESS PAIN ASSOCIATES

Lamont Ratcliff and his team are leading the pack in implementing the recent changes of the Texas Compassionate Use Program through a different segment of his practice at Houston area Wellness Pain & Associates clinics. The Texas Medical Marijuana Doctors was birthed 4 years ago out of a desire to become more educated and politicized in the cause and through alignment with the right organizations across the legislative sessions helped shift the conversation in the state and now taking action.

R

atcliff has served as the owner and director of Wellness Pain & Associates for 18 years providing outpatient chronic pain management to patients primarily in motor vehicle accidents and on the job injuries through various modalities. The company grew from 2 employees initially to 16 to include on site physicians, nurse practitioners, licensed physical and massage therapists, and registered nurses to help facilitate medical services in injury rehabilitation for acute injuries. As their ability to offer alternative treatment services grew, so did the practice under their Chief Medical Director Dr. Mark McBath, an oncologist with MD Anderson for over 25 years. Dr. McBath is among one of the first state approved medical marijuana physicians in Texas who can recommend medical marijuana to qualifying patients under the program. Lamont Ratcliff said of the new choice, “we have been very aggressive in informing patients that they have the power to choose alternative methods to increase their quality of life” and they will be able to do so under his direction next month.

The latest expansions of the T.CUP program that occurred in this year’s legislative session go into effect September 1st which adds qualifying medical conditions to those with PTSD and full qualification for all cancer patients, not just those with terminal diagnoses. This is now in addition to qualifications for those with epilepsy and seizure disorders, autism, Multiple Sclerosis or spasticity, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, and ALS. All 3 of his locations – Southwest, metro/downtown, and east side – are booked through October operating 4 day weeks full capacity with limited room available for emergency appointments. Their current patient demographic is about 60% cancer patients, 20% autism, and 20% PTSD with interest coming from far beyond the Houston metro area. As they understand the need for convenience to serve the unrepresented areas of the state, Lamont Ratcliff and his team have worked hard to create a very accessible and fluid process for appointments.

Their centralized phone number – (713) 659-HEMP (4367) – is still the

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best way to obtain an immediate appointment but they also offer additional QR codes and kiosks around the city to not only pre-qualify patients and schedule appointments but educated the public as well. This unique option sets them apart from other physicians allowing a presence for the practice beyond their physical locations.

The group also aims to educate patients on qualifications as well, as many physicians are still very trepidatious with regards to helping qualify for alternative treatments. If the patient already has a diagnosis, TMMD requests supporting documentation from the treating physician. If a diagnosis does not exist, they are trained to ask questions based on the symptoms present and grant qualification where valid for patients needing a more comprehensive diagnosis.

The group also offers extensive continuation of care. The initial visit allows the recommendation with respect to the strain of cannabis best suited to their needs. 6-8 weeks following that is a follow up to review the medication, response to it and any changes if needed and once those are made the next appointment is scheduled in a year.

The T.CUP program is regulated by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Upon entry into the program, the patient receives an official qualifying letter stating that they have been evaluated and that their cannabis use is medically necessary as an alternative treatment. This protects them

in any situations where the legality might be otherwise questioned. All of the information is kept in a DPS controlled registry and the patient portal is accessible anywhere needed in a licensed dispute in the state of Texas by law enforcement, or an employer.

The TXMMD team is spearheading this endeavor alongside Lamont Ratcliff in Houston but have plans to quickly expand into 2 offices in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area this October. Ratcliff stresses the need already for politicians to understand the volume of calls from small towns in outlying counties who really need access to this method of care as they are flying in for assistance already.

As long as a patient is a Texas resident, no geographic restrictions exist and their metropolitan presence makes that a possibility but they still plan to push for better accessibility in the underrepresented markets for those patients in dire need of an alternative that will work.

“Our main goal is to increase the quality of life of these patients who have already dealt a tough blow in life whether it is cancer, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, ALS, Parkinson’s etc. If we are able to do anything to assist in their quality of life, that is what we are here for.”

As legislation slowly meets education with cannabis reform in Texas, grassroots proponents for this alternative medicine continue to push the gap closer together and bridge the misrepresentation of the many facets hemp and cannabis can bring this great state.

A HISTORY OF HEMP & REMEMBERING JACK HERER Hemp is, by far, Earth’s premier, renewable natural resource. This is why hemp is so very important.

- Jack Herer BY: LAINE HAMMER & CYRUS SEPAHBODI

At Papa & Barkley, our goal is to introduce our customers to the joys of plants as medicine. We use CBD derived from hemp (aka Cannabis sativa with less than .3% THC) for our national line of products to help you feel better every day, and we bet that you have more hemp in your home than you realize. There might be hemp seeds in your cereal, your protein powder, snack cupboard, or that farmer’s market canvas tote you love so much. Bet you didn’t know that your brake pads may contain hemp too. Historically, hemp has been one of the greatest commodities known to humans — and in honor of 420, we are celebrating the history of hemp and one of the greatest life-long advocates of the plant, Jack Herer.

Hemp: A History Hemp is considered one of the earliest plants cultivated for textile fiber. Archaeologists have discovered a remnant of hemp cloth in ancient Mesopotamia that dates to 8,000 BC and historians have found reference to the Emperor Shen Nung (28th century BC) who taught his people to cultivate hemp for cloth. During the middle ages, hemp became an important crop socially and economically by supplying food and fiber. Sailing ships became dependent on canvas, hemp rope, and oakum because of its strength and resistance to salt water. During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1942 sources of hemp to the U.S. were cut off, creating higher demands for industrial hemp. To meet Page 36 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

the demand for war production, the U.S. and Canadian governments lifted restrictions so that farmers with special permits could grow hemp to supply the war effort. In 1937, when the Marihuana Tax Act was enacted, hemp production in the United States heavily declined. When the Controlled Substances Act passed in 1971, all forms of cannabis including Cannabis Sativa L (hemp), were classified as Schedule I narcotics and therefore federally prohibited.

Jack Herer: The Emperor of Hemp A hemp crisis arose in America in the 1930’s due to propaganda created by companies with vested interest – petroleum-based synthetic textile companies, large newspapers, and

lumber barons saw hemp as a threat to their businesses. This led to considerable lobbying to restrict hemp as an industrial commodity.

Nearly four decades later, American cannabis rights activist Jack Herer began his efforts to decriminalize and legalize cannabis and to expand the use of hemp for industrial use.

Often called the Emperor of Hemp or Hemperor, Herer founded and served as the director of the organization Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP). His book, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” is in its twelfth edition after having been continuously in print for 31 years. He highlighted hemp’s “versatility as paper, fiber, fuel, food and medicine”

Growing hemp as nature designed it is vital to our urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases and ensure the survival of our planet.

- Jack Herer

An Interview with

KY-MANI MARLEY Ky-Mani will be performing at the Sweet Sensi Texas Hemp Harvest Festival coming up in October. We wanted to have a chat with him before the event, to get an insight on this legend.

R: Joining me today is Ky-Mani Marley of the Marley family joining the Texas hemp show welcome to the program how are you?

KM: I’m good, I’m good. Thanks for having me on the program.

back into Texas. I’ve been working on a few new projects. I’m working on a new album.

So coming into Texas I will play some new music and some new vibes, keep people updated to what is going on musically. good vibes, good vibes in Texas.

R: Thank you, we are excited about having you joining the family here in Austin in October. We’ve got you down for the Sweet Sensi presents, First Annual Texas Hemp Harvest Festival and celebrating Texas hemp in Texas.We’ve got your band slated to perform Oct 23rd in Austin at Carson Creek Ranch. We’re looking forward to having you here in Texas, what can we expect from your performance here this fall?

Km: First of all I want to say that I’m really looking forward to coming out to Texas. It’s been awhile since I have been there. And Texas has always shown me a lot of love. I was really excited about getting

R: Yeah Texas and particularly Austin has a lot of love for reggae and your family of course. You know we’ve always had a special place for reggae here in Austin, and the community just has a lot of love and respect for you guys as an artist. So it should be a really good time. Who also influenced KyMani as a young man growing up?

KM: I mean well, so you know what, music in general influenced me. I was born in Jamaica but was raised in Miami. I moved to Miami when I was 8 years old.

And you know, coming into America I got exposed to so many different genres of music. I’ll tell ya a quick story. In my younger days I listened to a lot of

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Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, because of what happened and how that happened, I fell in love with that genre of music. I fell in love with rock, I fell in love with soft rock, I fell in love with a lot of the contemporary stuff. And what happened was that when I just moved to America, my mom bought me a boom box. In Jamaica at the time we only had one radio station. So when I moved to America, and she bought me that, I tuned into the first radio station I found and figured there was only one. So I left the dial on that station and it happened to be a rock station. And it stayed there for years, before I was raving of one day to movie it again. And then I realized there were 10 more stations.

R: Yeah, you know if you were listening to Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith, I was hanging out with long hair and holes in my jeans, smokin you know whatever I could smoke in those days. T That’s cool.

You haven’t had a new album since the Yayo release in 2019. So that’s what you’re working on now, something new, a new project?

KM: Yeah we’re working on a new project right now. I have two new projects. The last

album I released was a collaboration with me and Gentleman called Conversations.

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with that one.

R: I wanted to ask you, you’ve worked with artists like Shaggy, Young Buck, Farruko, Protojé and many artists you’ve collaborated with. Is there anybody that stands out or someone that you really enjoyed working with recently?

KM. Each experience is a different one and I enjoy each experience because within each experience is something to be learned. So, I Really can’t say I preferred one over the other. Because they were all just a different experience and fortunately they were all good experiences but at the same time they were different. You find that you learn a lot in each. You get with musicians that’s a little bit off or maybe a lot off, of what you naturally feed off of with each other. It’s always a learning process in that genre, in that arena I should say. Each one is special for me.

R:Well what can we expect from the show here in October? I understand you’re gonna have a couple of new songs and what can you speak to the energy and celebrating Texas hemp here in Texas.

This is a new experience for us. We’ve only recently had access to cannabis, how do you feel about cannabis as far as the change? This is new for us in Texas.

KM: That’s a beautiful thing. Yeah I think cannabis should be legal in every state, right there in the Being that Texas has stepped up to the plate, that’s beautiful.

It’s definitely just a good move moving in the right direction, because after all herbs are the healer of the nation right. It’s only right. And coming to Texas my advice, those that know Ky-Mani and know my vibe, know that I’m energetic and feed off of the crowd. Daring when it comes to lyrics and music I tend to present at times.

Those who know me, know exactly what I’m coming to get.

R: I want to ask you Ky-Mani, did you ever think about, that when you think about your father‘s music and how it’s so timeless with how it stayed current and relevant all these decades as well with his message of peace, love, and unity, did it ever occur to you growing up that his music would stay so current as it has?

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KM: No one knew. No one knew but there is magic there. You’ve never heard someone say that you’re going to play some oldies and then play some Bob Marley.

Because the music is always so current, you could put it on right, now it’s within everything else that’s happening right now that music is right here with it. I mean it’s still modern, still fresh, still current, still new no matter how many times you listen to it.

R: I wanted to ask you Ky-Mani, do you collaborate with your brothers often?

I’ve seen some videos online of you guys performing at various concerts over the years, do you still collaborate with your brothers?

KM: Yeah absolutely absolutely, that will never end. And for a while we’ve been talking about a brother album, and Ziggy has really been spearheading that. Hopefully we’ll get to it and get it you guys soon.

R: That would be very cool, everybody would love to hear you guys together as well. One of the questions I think people always ask is, you know you’ve been in films and one of the more memorable performances over the years, and in the past 20 years is Shottas. People always wanna know is there ever going to be a sequel to that? I heard a few years ago that there was a script going around that you were looking at. I just didn’t know if that ever came to fruition.

KM: Well ya know we started a series and we put it on pause for a minute. I’m actually in the process of shooting a movie and we should start shooting on the 29th of this month called Vendetta. Great storyline behind it, and it’s really a good feeling movie, but it also has rough edges like Shottas had as well. Hopefully we’ll get that out to ya by the end of the year.

But we definitely do start shooting on the 29th of this month.

on our radio show here in Austin News Radio KLBJ 590. And so we’re looking forward to really promoting this Sweet Sensi‘s first annual Texas Hemp Harvest Festival, we look forward to receiving you here in Austin. Austin has a lotta love for the Marley family KM: I’m happy to be there, especially for the first one – – that’s a blessing R: We are excited to have you. Is there anything else going on in your life that you would like to make an announcement on or share with Austin Texas KM: Just working on the album and looking forward to getting it to you guys sooner, and we have the new movie in the pipeline. Also if you’re in Miami if you’re in the Miami area on November 7 we’re keeping that Maestro Marley Cup, it’s a soccer tournament that ends with a concert. So if you’re here, Maestro Marley Cup on November 7, 2021 R: Awesome! OK so there you have it Ky-Mani Marley got a new album coming out for us. Is that gonna be later this year or next year?

KM: Later this year. Hopefully later this year for sure. Working on it now so you know, trying to get it to you before the year is over.

R:Wow! Well, very cool, that’s exciting.

I just got a few more for you here Kymani . Are there any fond memories of your father that stick out? I know your family moved to Miami when you were young but just any memories you’d like to share growing up?

KM: I lost my father when I was very young. 5 years of age to be exact. So my memories of him picking me and my older brother I up, Steven. I was living in the country and he came to pick me up with Steven and we went out into the bushes.

And he just got back from America with a slingshot, you know, one that was crafted with the metal iron.We were used to just finding a branch and putting on the elaastics.So this one we were fascinated with we would go into the bushes to shoot at the birds and the slingshot got lost. I was told that I was the one that had the Page 42 • www.TexasHempReporter.com

slingshot and I was like, “no it’s not me.”

Stephen basically said that daddy give me a beatin for losing the slingshot. So I remember walking up to him and I just said , “Daddy, me lose the slingshot.” And he looked down and laughed at me. And when he laughed I knew I wasn’t getting a beating. So I walked away and headed back to go play.

R: That was Stephen messing with ya huh?

KM: So that was my memories.

R: That’s good. We are very excited to have you as part of the upcoming event.

We are probably looking at working with your management to get the artwork and feature you on the cover of the magazine in Austin coming up in a month or two. This interview will appear in the magazine Ky-mani, it’ll also be here

R: Are you still lifting the weights, keeping in shape?

KM: You know, I took some time off, a little bit before Covid and I was in Jamaica dealing with a youth program and gained a lot of weight. Even without visiting the gym I am still healthy.

R: And last question, do you think the United States will legalize marijuana at all a few years Ky-mani?

KM: Absolutely R: It seems like we’re moving that direction right?

KM: Absolutely, the people have spoken.

It’s only right.

R: We look forward to receiving you my friend, here on October 23 in Austin Texas at the Texas Hemp Harvest Festival.

Thank you so much for being part of the Texas Hemp Show buddy.

KM: Thank you so much. Much love.

Meet the Texas Cannabis Collective

BY JESSE WILLIAMS

One Texas cannabis activism group has amassed quite a following in their state and has even caught the attention of national players.

A

s 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

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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.

A Q&A SESSION WITH CANNABIS ACTIVIST DAVID BASS

BY JESSE WILLIAMS

Meet one of the Texas cannabis activism community’s most recognizable names and faces.

Since I started doing activism in the cannabis community in the summer of 2015, David Bass (pronounced like the Bass fish) has been a presence. Almost every TXNORML meeting I attended, including my first, Bass was there.

Any event I attended for activism, David has been there. Capitol testimony? Veterans activism pushes at the capitol? Bass was there. You can’t miss him with his ZZ Top style beard and usually a cowboy hat to boot. I had the opportunity to ask David some questions so the public could know his story and learn more about him.

Jesse: Mr. Bass, how many years did you serve in the Army as an officer? Did you serve as just an officer or did you go from enlisted

to officer? I understand that you retired from the service for 20 years plus of service, I wasn’t sure if you went past the 20 year mark.

David: I served as an infantry soldier in the Oklahoma National Guard from 1981 to 1985. I served as a signal officer on active duty from 1985 until 2006.

Jesse: And what exactly was your title in the Army when you retired? Can you elaborate on what exactly your job was for the Army and what division you were with? If you can, put this in layman’s terms for the uninitiated and non-military folk.

David: I served as a communications officer in the 1st Cavalry Division from 2004

to2006. We deployed to Baghdad, Iraq from 2004 to 2005. That was my final big assignment in the Army and it was the most challenging by far. The 1st Cavalry Division was fighting the insurgents for control of Baghdad and we took a lot of casualties. It was a long, bloody year.

Jesse: And during that time that you were in, how would you describe it overall? If that changed during your time in service feel free to comment on that, as command atmospheres change just like any work environment and it may have changed your feelings on your place in the Army.

David: I loved the Army. I woke up every morning for 25 years knowing I was serving my country and taking care of my soldiers.

Jesse: What do you consider the most detrimental part of the service when looking at your health today? I know you are very open and vocal about having PTSD from the service. If you’re uncomfortable describing that, it is understandable.

David: The detrimental part of military service is you can get killed or severely injured. I am a disabled veteran for chronic pain from service related injuries and PTSD. I don’t regret it. I’m proud I served my country faithfully.

Jesse: How did this effect from service change your day to day life once you left the service?

David: PTSD and chronic pain are very debilitating. The meds prescribed for chronic pain and PTSD are also debilitating. But after I retired I participated in the Troops to Teachers program and taught high school for 10 years. I just had to tough it out every day just like when I was in the Army. I loved teaching American Literature to high school students as much as I loved the Army.

I taught in our Fort Hood community so most of my students were military kids.

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space? I know you were well into this when I met you in the summer of 2015 at a Texas NORML meeting.

Jesse: What exactly prompted you to try marijuana as a treatment for your mental condition?

David: I hated the opioids and psychotropic drugs which I took every day for six years as prescribed. Then I discovered medical marijuna in 2012, and by the end of 2012 I stopped using pills. Medical marijuana changed my life all for the better. I really think that if I had not stopped taking the pills and drinking all the alcohol I used to drink, I would be dead by now.

David: I’ve been a cannabis activist in Texas since 2013 and I have advocated for marijuana law reform for five legislative sessions.

I have been privileged to know every single person active in the cannabis movement in Texas. I have documented our movement with thousands of photographs on facebook.

I’ve been blessed to attend pretty much every significant cannabis event in Texas since 2013; not every one of them but most of them. And I have contacts on the staff of some of our main legislative allies. I have really enjoyed learning about how our Texas legislature works, the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s been fun and fulfilling.

Jesse: Up until recently, you were the veterans outreach coordinator with Texas NORML, how long were you and that position and how was that experience?

David: I joined Texas NORML in 2012 and became the Director of Veteran Outreach in 2013. We founded Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana in 2015. My goal was to get the message to every vet in Texas that cannabis is good medicine. I resigned in Jan 2021 when I turned 65 so that a younger person could take the lead. A young person can bring new ideas and a new perspective.

Jesse: I want to make sure that I have this correct, you are the head of Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana Correct (TXVMMJ)? Is that its own independent non-profit or is it part of another group?

David: TXVMMJ is the veteran outreach program for Texas NORML. I am the founder.

The new operations officer for TXVMMJ is Viridiana Edwards, a US Army veteran in San Antonio. Viridiana has the lead now. She serves on the Texas NORML board in charge of veteran outreach actions.

Jesse: You’re a part of “the crew” with Texas Cannabis Collective, and you’ve started up your own cannabis commentary page titled Texas Cannabis News and Commentary on Facebook recently. Tell us more about your new page and the goals you have for that.

David: TXCN&C is my effort to provide in-depth info to people in our cannabis movement in Texas on issues such as cannabis legislation, elections, changes to the law, cannabis events and any other info that people in the movement need to know.

Jesse: With all of these projects you’ve been a part of, how many years have you been doing activism and lobbying in this

Jesse: Can you speak about the veterans with PTSD study that will be taking place with Texas Compassionate Cultivation?

David: Let’s call it a survey. We don’t meet the criteria for an actual scientific study with a large number of participants, a control group taking a placebo, controlled use, etc. I hope we can achieve actual scientific studies on cannabis in Texas soon but we’re not there yet. This project is a group of veterans diagnosed with PTSD who will use TCUP (Texas Compassionate Use Program) meds for 3-4 months and report to their docs whether the meds are effective to any degree for PTSD. I am hopeful they will be effective for some vets. The reason I’m hopeful is because the licensees are telling us that when the updated TCUP law takes effect on Sep 1 with the “1% THC by weight” rule they can formulate lozenges, gummies and tinctures w 10 mg of THC per gram which is a standard dose in medical marijuana states. The “by weight” clause is the reason they can achieve this.

Then during the next legislative session in 2023, this same group of vets can advocate as legal medical marijuana patients, not “criminals” using marijuana illegally. We know some of our objectives include removing the THC cap so doctors can decide dosage, adding flower to TCUP and adding severe chronic pain and Traumatic Brain Injury as qualifying conditions.

Jesse: I would like to thank Mr. Bass for taking the time to answer some questions for us about himself and the changing program going into effect on September 1st, 2021.

Hemp Paper

in the USA: Part 2

BY KEN GIBSON. NYC 2021

Hemp has been used for paper for some 2,000 years, the use of wood pulp is a new concept that has been causing economic and environmental chaos.

A

t the time of this writing paper in the US is shipped in from southeast Asia, incurring transport costs and adding to the loss of forests.

A hemp paper industry in America would provide jobs and lessen the damage to the environment; it would also produce stronger paper, as the hemp papers, being long, interlock and form a more lasting paper.

In my previous article I noted that “cellulose is the most abundant molecule in agriculture”; indeed, it is the basis of our entire economy. It is both the cheapest substance and the most expensive, if one tallies the price of just one fraction of a gram that brought in over $9million at Sothebys. Of course, that was a rare example of a purchase - the 1c Magenta postage stamp from British Guyana, which has passed hands from a boy to a nobleman to a murderer.

But most cellulose products do not have such an illustrious history. They simply go from the farm to the factory to the distributor to the store to the consumer to the rubbish bin.

But in the course of this, livelihoods are made. Jobs are created, and we use pieces of cellulose to transact all of this. We call these pieces money. Some are wont to quote that it does not grow on trees.

Ironically, it does. Or at least it is made from trees.

Or most of it is. The US uses about 6% hemp in the greenback, as this plant

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produces not only a long strand, but the strands fibrillate better than that of other plants, thus creating a more integrated.

Thus our money comes from trees, and in the best-case scenario, trees take seven years to mature. Bowater used to have much of the southeast US covered in pines for this purpose.

Now the trees are grown in southeast Asia, and Americans do not produce their own paper. Each person uses about 200 lbs. The nations needs thus 35 million tons of paper each year.

Which could come from farms in the heartland. And it could be produced once again in America.

This very subject was given thought even before the present crisis and state of dependency on foreign supplies. Government record from 1910-1916 shows a number of trials conducted by the USDA on paper production which included a study of hurds as a raw material - hurds are 35-70% cellulose, whereas the bast is 70-77% cellulose.

Usually hurds are left to rot as farm waste, but if put to use, with thousands of pounds per acre produced in a season, the economic reality is not hard to see.

The US needs to secure not only paper supplies but water - and that is another reason for growing hemp. Hemp grown for paper not only can reduce the dependency on trees, but also water use in areas where crops such as cotton are grown.

The USDA estimates that 9,461,000 acres of cotton were harvested in the US in 2011—a year in which more than onethird of the nation’s crop was wiped out by severe drought, with farmers in Texas and Oklahoma forced to abandon more than 5 million acres, more than half of what they planted.

I will leave the reader with those statistics and ask that they do the math, while contemplating that same acreage under cultivation for paper. The hemp uses less water and less pesticides. It can be used to create an entire industry, about which we will be studying more of in my next installment.

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FIRST ANNUAL TEXAS HEMP HARVEST FESTIVAL Sweet Sensi CBD is bringing the First Annual Hemp Harvest Festival to Austin, Texas.

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ocated at Carson Creek Ranch off the Colorado River in East Austin, the family-friendly festival will take place on October 23rd from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.. Tickets will range from $40 for general admission, to $120 for VIP entry. The festival will be a celebration of the rise of hemp products produced and manufactured here in the Lone Star State.

Sweet Sensi CBD is passionate about bringing high quality CBD products to Texas. “We

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utilize the entire plant, the way nature intended,” says Sweet Sensi founder Greg Autry, who has been cultivating and breeding hemp for two and a half decades. The Austin-based company holds a state-of-the-art facility that produces artisanal CBD products.

The Texas Hemp Harvest Festival will feature live musical performances from over 10 musicians, including; Jamacian reggae and hip-hop artist Ky-Mani Marley, American country music singer-songwriter Gary P. Nunn, Cas Haley, The Mau Mau Chaplains,

The Supervillians, Big Mon, Po Porter, Armadillo Road, and many more. There will be a blind judging competition of four different hemp categories; flower/pre-rolls, edibles, topicals, and tinctures/capsules.

Each competition category will be judged by 100 festival-goers who can sign up through the event website. The festival will also feature food trucks, drinks, vendors, games and activities, raffle prizes, and fun for all ages.

To reserve your tickets to the Texas Hemp Harvest Festival, or to sign up as a judge for our blind judging competition, visit texashempharvestfestival.com or search the event on eventbrite.com

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TEXAS COMPASSIONATE - USE INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS TO MONITOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESEARCH – Newly Proposed Rule -

Comment Period Open

BY ANDREA HOPE J. STEEL. DATE OF PUBLICATION: AUGUST 20, 2021

As mentioned in one of my recent articles,1 the last legislative session made slight expansions to the Texas Compassionate Use Program (“TCUP”), which serves as the State’s only pathway to legally access non-hemp cannabis (a/k/a marijuana or “marihuana”). TCUP is an extremely restrictive medical marijuana program allowing registered patients with qualifying conditions to use a limited array of low-THC cannabis products (as of September 1, 2021, the THC cap will increase from 0.5% to 1%).

research low-THC cannabis medical use for any condition designated by the HHSC Executive Commissioner (not just the nine named diagnoses).4 A proposed rule relating to CIRBs has been published in the August 20th edition of the Texas Registry,5 but it is broad in nature and lacks details. Though the stated purpose of the proposed rule is to provide guidelines for CIRBs, it essentially reiterates the recently passed legislation but fails to provide interested parties with any substantive details on how to participate.

Background – What Does the New Law Say?

O

ne of the provisions of the new law provides for the Health & Human Services Commission (“HHSC”) to create compassionate use institutional review boards (“CIRBs”).2 Generally, an institutional review board is an administrative body or formal committee, often within an

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academic setting, that reviews and oversees research on human subjects to ensure protection of their rights and welfare and compliance with ethical guidelines. HHSC has already established two institutional review boards,3 but they do not appear to be connected to the newly authorized CIRBs. The new law allows these CIRBs to be created by third parties to

Before detailing what is in the proposed rule, it is helpful to understand the recently passed law concerning CIRBs. Under the new law, which goes into effect September 1, 2021, one or more CIRBs may be established. The proposed rule appears to establish one. This is reminiscent of the initial TCUP bill, which required at least three dispensaries be licensed under the program, but subsequent rules and procedures resulted in only three licensees.

The CIRBs serve the purposes of not only evaluating medical use, but also overseeing patient treatment and, interestingly, certifications of treating physicians. A physician treating a patient under an CIRB-authorized research program is required to be certified by that CIRB. Under current law and regardless of CIRB status, in order for the physician to be able to prescribe6 low-THC cannabis through TCUP, s/he must be properly licensed, board certified in a relevant medical specialty and essentially specialize in the patient’s partic-

ular medical condition. The physician must also register with the State’s Compassionate Use Registry as the patient’s prescriber (but the doctor’s name cannot be published unless s/he expressly consents). The physician is also required to maintain a patient treatment plan that includes dosage, means of administration, anticipated duration of treatment, and a plan to monitor symptoms and indications of tolerance or reactions to low-THC cannabis.

Patients in the TCUP program, whether part of a CIRB or not, must be permanent residents of Texas, and CIRB patients must also sign a written consent to receive the research treatment (or a parent/guardian/ conservator must consent on behalf of a minor or incapacitated patient).

CIRBs must submit written reports on their findings by October 1, yearly to HHSC, and every other year to the legislature (even-numbered years).

CIRBs must be affiliated with one of the licensed TCUP dispensing organizations (recall there are currently only three in the state) and meet one of the following criteria: (1) be affiliated with a medical school;7 (2) be affiliated with a hospital licensed under Chapter 2418 that has at least 150 beds; (3) be accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research ProtectionPrograms;9 (4) be registered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Human Research Protections,10 or (5) be accredited by a national accreditation organization acceptable to the Texas Medical Board.

What Does the Proposed Rule Say? Under the law, HHSC was granted the authority to adopt all rules necessary to implement the CIRB program.

The proposed rule implies a CIRB approval process whereby the principal investigator of a proposed research program must clearly identify the medical condition to be treated and shall study only that medical condition identified in the CIRB-approved application. An end date of any CIRB-approved study must be established, but the actual end date may be earlier if either the principal investigator chooses, or if the CIRB suspends or terminates the program due to violations or the treatment is as-

sociated with unexpected serious harm to subjects. Note that suspension/termination can be authorized for mere association and not necessarily causation.

The proposed rule also states that CIRB-approved research programs are non-transferable.

The rule includes a few other subsections that reiterate the law regarding patient and physician qualifications and written report deadlines but adds nothing else of substance.

There are no other requirements or timelines and no details about applications. In some respects, this broadness is preferable because the lack of details and restrictions allows for more flexibility and creativity, but on the other hand the lack of specificity provides minimal guidance for interested stakeholders.

What Should the Proposed Rule Include?

More details! Rules relating to research and institutional review boards for other programs in Texas exist and are more fleshed out. It seems this rule is being proposed simply to have some progress before the September 1 effective date, but this attempt is not very informative.

Specifics with respect to timelines, reporting hierarchy, application guidelines, details as to applicability of other Department of State Health Services IRB policies at the very least are important factors that should be included. The rule should also be clear there is no limit on the number of CIRBs that can be established.

While the State’s health agencies have much more important issues to deal with right now (ahem, COVID-19), it would be incredibly beneficial for a task force or advisory council to be established to focus specifically on the future of the state’s medical marijuana program.

The expansion of the TCUP program (and legality of cannabis generally) is inevitable and Houston is home to the world’s largest medical center. The best and the brightest are right here and can and should be utilized to provide another innovation pathway for Texas’s ascent as a medical breakthrough leader.

Written comments to the proposed rule are being accepted through September 20, 2021. Contact us if you would like additional information.

REFERENCES:

1

Andrea Steel, “Dear 87th Legislative Session (Cannabis Law): What Happened Y’all?”

Texas Hemp Reporter (Aug. 2021) available at https://issuu.com/texashempreporter/docs/ july/56.

2 Tex. Health and Safety Code, Chapter 487, Subchapter F, as authorized by House Bill 1535.

3 DSHS IRB Home, https://dshs.texas. gov/irb/Default.shtm (last visited August 20, 2021).

4 To otherwise qualify for TCUP, a patient must b e diagnosed with epilepsy, a seizure disorder, MS, spasticity, ALS, autism, cancer, an incurable neurodegenerative disease, or PTSD. 5 46 Tex. Reg. 5164 (2021) (to be codified at 25 Tex. Admin. Code § 1.65 (proposed Aug. 20, 2021) (Tex. Dep’t of State Health Servs.).

6 Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, doctors cannot actually “prescribe” it, but a 2019 change to the TCUP law expressly states that any reference to a prescription for low -THC cannabis in any law means an entry in the TCUP registry.

7 As defined under Section 61.501, Tex. Educ. Code. Medical schools meeting this definition are: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the medical school at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the medical school at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the medical school at The University of Texas at Austin, the medical school at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the medical education program of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, the medical school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the medical school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, the Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, the University of Houston College of Medicine, the Baylor College of Medicine, the college of osteopathic medicine at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, or the medical sch ool at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center.

8 Tex. Health and Safety Code, Chapter 241.

9 AAHRPP, https://www.aahrpp.org (last visited Aug. 20, 2021) 10 Office For Human Research Protections, https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/index.html (last visited Aug. 20, 2021).

TEXAS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DIRECTORY Dr. East, Johnny Wayne Addison Pain & Regenerative Medicine 16633 Dallas Pkwy #150 Addison, TX 75001 DALLAS (972) 380-0000 Dr. Taylor, Charles Jansen Cannabis Health of Texas 208 Parc Oaks Dr Aledo, TX 76008 JOHNSON (903) 521-7033 Dr. Pho, Luan Q Luan Q Pho MD PA 1105 Central Expy N Ste 260 Allen, TX 75013 COLLIN (972) 747-4700 Dr. Arsenault, Daniel Michael Harrington Cancer Center Radiation Oncology Department 1751 Wallace Blvd

Dr. Skjei, Karen Lea UT Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Child 1301 Barbara Jordan Blvd Suite 200 Austin, TX 78723 TRAVIS (512) 628-1855 Dr. Morledge, David Walker Austin Neurological Clinic 711 W 38TH ST STE F1 AUSTIN, TX 78705 TRAVIS (512) 458-6121 Dr. Rafii, Sauman A Diagnostic Pain Center 12176 N Mopac Expy D Austin, TX 78758 TRAVIS (512) 981-7246

Dr. Jurdi, Adham A Austin Cancer Center 9715 Burnet Rd building 7 suite 200 Austin, TX 78758 TRAVIS (512) 505-5500

Dr. Hardee, Miranda J Urology Austin 11410 Jollyville Rd, Suite 1 Austin, TX 78759 TRAVIS (512) 231-1444

Dr. Izor, Robert M Neurology Solutions Consultants, P.A. 12345 N. Lamar Blvd., #260 Austin, TX 78753 TRAVIS (512) 977-7000

Dr. Cashio, Peter Joseph Code 1 Concierge Care 14101 W US 290 St 400B Austin, TX 78737 HAYS (512) 894-5050

Dr. Wills, Robert P Austin Pain Wellness 3003 Bee Cave Rd, Ste 204 Austin, TX 78746 TRAVIS (512) 518-6273

Dr. Lifshen, Michael Scott Premier Family Physicians 912 S. Capital of Texas Highway Suite 100 Austin, TX 78750 TRAVIS (512) 306-8360

Dr. Doan, Ellis Lakeway Psychiatry and Behavioral Health 1205 RR 620 South Austin, TX 78734 TRAVIS (512) 263-5100

Dr. Keough, Karen C Child Neurology Consultants of Austin 6811 Austin Center Blvd Ste 400 Austin, TX 78731 TRAVIS (512) 494-4000

Dr. Hussain, Yessar M Austin Neuromuscular Center 3901 Medical Parkway Suite 300 Austin, TX 78756 TRAVIS (512) 920-0140

Dr. Marks, Robert Steven Diagnostic Pain Center 12176 N Mopac Expy Suite D Austin, TX 78758 TRAVIS (512) 981-7246

Dr. Pho, Luan Q Luan Q Pho MD PA 1105 Central Expy N Ste 260 Allen, TX 75013 COLLIN (972) 747-4700

Dr. Austin, Sara G Seton Brain and Spine Neurology 1600 W. 38th Street, Suite 308 Austin, TX 78731 TRAVIS (512) 324-3540

Dr. Arsenault, Daniel Michael Harrington Cancer Center Radiation Oncology Department 1751 Wallace Blvd Amarillo , TX 79106 POTTER (806) 212-1960

Dr. Vu-Wallace, Anna Ha-Linh Phuong Encompass Hospice Austin 7901 E Riverside Drive Austin, TX 78744 TRAVIS (512) 284-9642

Dr. Geyer, Darren Eugene Premier Family Physicians 5625 Eiger Road Suite 200 Austin, TX 78735 TRAVIS (512) 892-7076

Dr. PARVEZ, SHABANA Arlington Integrative Medical Center 1420 North Cooper Street Suite 109 ARLINGTON, TX 76011 TARRANT (817) 538-5439

Dr. Brimberry, Matthew Alan Texas Cannabis Clinic 5625 Eiger Rd #200 Austin, TX 78735 TRAVIS (512) 892-7092 https://texascannabisclinic.com/

Dr. East, Johnny Wayne Addison Pain & Regenerative Medicine 16633 Dallas Pkwy #150 Addison, TX 75001 DALLAS (972) 380-0000 Dr. Taylor, Charles Jansen Cannabis Health of Texas 208 Parc Oaks Dr Aledo, TX 76008 JOHNSON (903) 521-7033

Dr. Durham, Shelley Erin PrimeCare Family Practice 1001 N Waldrop Dr Ste 801 Arlington, TX 76012 TARRANT (817) 962-0056 www.primecarefp.com

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Dr. Shaw, Koushik Austin urology institute 12319 North Mopac Suite 200 Austin, TX 78758 TRAVIS (512) 694-8888

Dr. Kerr, Jeffrey S. Child Neurology Consultants of Austin 6811 Austin Center Boulevard Suite 400 Austin, TX 78731 TRAVIS (512) 494-4000

Dr. Loftus, Brian David Bellaire Neurology 6700 West Loop S, Ste 330 Bellaire, TX 77401 HARRIS (713) 715-6360 Dr. Chavez, Valerie Maxine Opus Anti-aging and Wellness 201 S. Lakeline Blvd; Ste 402 Cedar Park , TX 78613 WILLIAMSON (512) 593-8443 Dr. Javed, Qazi U Integrative Psychiatry-Austin 13625 Ronald Reagan Blvd.

Bldg4, Ste 300 Cedar Park, TX 78613 WILLIAMSON (512) 766-7803 Dr. Kane, Jeffrey S. Child Neurology Consultants of Austin 1301 Medical Parkway Suite 300 Cedar Park, TX 78613 WILLIAMSON (512) 494-4000

Dr. DUBOIS, CRAIG ROBERT NEURAL LOGICS, P.A. 5508 PARKCREST Ste 310 Austin, TX 78731 TRAVIS (512) 329-2412

Dr. Roy, Kausik AustinMD Aesthetics And Wellness 13625 Ronald Reagan Blvd.

Building 10, Suite 200 Cedar Park, TX 78613 WILLIAMSON (512) 593-5605

Dr. Wingrove, Iris S Optimize Neurology PLLC 6611 River Place Blvd Suite 205 Austin, TX 78730 TRAVIS (512) 593-2131

Dr. Badea-Mic, DANIELA Daniela Badea-Mic, MD PA 3765 S Alameda St Suite 250 Corpus Christi, TX 78411 NUECES (361) 850-8300

Dr. Elkhaliny, Adel N A. Elkhaliny Medical Association 15896 Punta Espada Loop Corpus Christi, TX 78418 NUECES (361) 949-3256

Dr. Berryman, Robert Brian Texas Oncology-Baylor Sammons Cancer Cen 3410 Worth Street Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75246 DALLAS

Dr. Garey, Casey Dr. Casey Stell, PLLC 6451 Brentwood Stair Rd Ste 200 Fort Worth, TX 76112 TARRANT (817) 676-1615

Dr. Sohal, Guljeet K Balle Bliss 13611 Skinner Road Suite 270 Cypress, TX 77429 HARRIS (281) 758-2777

Dr. Will, Kelly Kelly Will, MD, PA 7515 Greenville Avenue Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75231 DALLAS (972) 777-6101

Dr. Phuah, Elaine Clover Internal Medicine Associates 800 8th Avenue Ste 336 Fort Worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (817) 386-3632

Dr. Beitsch, Peter Donald Dallas Surgical Group 8140 Walnut Hill Lane Suite C800 Dallas, TX 75231 DALLAS (214) 350-6672 Dr. Chun, Christopher S Lone Star Cannabis Clinic 4225 Office Parkway Dallas, TX 75204 DALLAS (214) 245-4537 www.lonestarcannabisclinic.com Dr. Cohen , Howard M Mind+Body Medicine 10400 N Central Expressway Dallas , TX 75231 DALLAS (214) 972-2427 Dr. Tunell, Gary L. Texas Neurology 6301 Gaston Avenue Ste 100W Dallas, TX 75214 DALLAS (214) 827-3610 Dr. Lucas, Thomas William Thorntree Psychiatric Associates 3500 Oak Lawn Ave, STE 300 Dallas, TX 75219 DALLAS (972) 709-1961 Dr. Blaik, Ziad Richardson Neurology 8330 Meadow Rd. Ste. 204 Dallas, TX 75231 DALLAS (214) 379-1100 Dr. furo, hiroko US 18644 Gibbons dr Dallas, TX 75287 N/A (309) 310-4060 Dr. Inanoglu, Didem Childrens Health Texas 2222 Medical district Dr Dallas, TX 75235 DALLAS (214) 867-6900

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Dr. Jackson, David E David E. Jackson, MD 6606 Lyndon B Johnson Frwy Dallas, TX 75240 DALLAS (214) 244-2912 Dr. McCarter, Stephanie L Environmental Health Center of Dallas 8345 Walnut HIll Lane, Suite 220 Dallas, TX 75231 DALLAS (214) 368-4132 Dr. Schiffmann, Raphael Neurometabolic $ Undiagnosed Neurologica 3417 Gaston Avenue Suite #935 Dallas, TX 75246 DALLAS (214) 820-4688

Dr. Clarke, Khalilah Q Clarke Quality of Life 3600 West 7th St Suite A Fort Worth, TX 76107 TARRANT (817) 662-7044 Dr. Cox, Ralph F. Metroplex Medical Centre 201 Commerce Street Fort Worth, TX 76102 TARRANT (682) 610-7900 Dr. Rios, Matthew Lyle JPS Oncology and Infusion Center 1450 8th Avenue Fort worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (817) 702-8300

Dr. Nagaraj, Arun K Texas Neurology 6080 North Central Expressway Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75206 DALLAS (214) 827-3610

Dr. Tio, Leon S Clover Internal Medicine Associates 800 8th Avenue Suite 336 Fort Worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (817) 386-3632

Dr. Zebaida, Oren Y Dallas Medical Specialists 7777 Forest Lane Suite C-300 Dallas, TX 75230 DALLAS (972) 566-6000

Dr. Shahani, Dave Cook Children’s Department of Neurology 1500 Cooper St, Fourth Floor Fort Worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (682) 885-2500

Dr. Herzog, Steven P. Texas Neurology 6301 Gaston Avenue Ste 100W Dallas, TX 75214 DALLAS (214) 827-3610 Dr. Seymour, Elizabeth R Environmental Health CenterDallas 8345 Walnut Hill Lane Suite 220 Dallas, TX 75231 DALLAS (214) 368-4132 Dr. Herekar, Aamr A Advanced Neurology Epilepsy and Sleep 7100 Westwind Drive Suite 300 El Paso, TX 79912 EL PASO (915) 974-2200

Dr. Lee, Yein UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth 855 Montgomery Street Health Pavilion 6th floor Fort Worth, TX 76107 TARRANT (817) 735-2235 Dr. Attaran Rezaei, Babak John Peter Smith health system 1400 South Main St. Fort Worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (559) 824-3737 Dr. Brooks, Meredith R. Cook Children’s Hospital 801 Seventh Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76104 TARRANT (682) 885-4549

Dr. Mohammed, Nazimuddin T Compassionate Psychiatric Services 11500 S H 121 Suite 510 Frisco, TX 75035 COLLIN (469) 200-4093 Dr. Pillai, Mohan A Mohan A. Pillai, MD 6703 Gatewick Drive FRISCO, TX 75035 COLLIN (469) 756-7500 Dr. Burke, Rebecca V University of Texas Medical Branch 400 Harborside Drive Galveston, TX 77555 GALVESTON (409) 772-2222 Dr. Buchanan, Lynn Lynn Buchanan DO LLC 9331 Gardenia Bend Dr Garden Ridge, TX 78266 COMAL (830) 358-2078 Dr. MUKARDAMWALA, SHAHBUDDIN H DR. GOLDSTEIN PA. & ASSOCIATES M.D. 11914 ASTORIA BLVD SUITE 400 HOUSTON, TX 77089 HARRIS (281) 481-4236 Dr. Van Ness, Paul Cyril Baylor College of Medicine 7200 Cambridge Street Department of Neurology Houston, TX 77030 HARRIS (713) 798-2273 Dr. Shirzadi, Shahin Houston Neurology Associates 7500 Beechnut Suite 135 Houston, TX 77074 HARRIS (713) 777-4122 Dr. razvi, shehla syed MD Anderson 1515 holcombe bvd unit 87 houston , TX 77030 HARRIS (713) 792-6635 Dr. Al-Mutairi, Aymer Mutlag Baylor Medicine Family Medicine 3743 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77027 HARRIS (713) 798-7700 Dr. Moody, Karen M MD Anderson Cancer Center 1515 Holcomb Blvd.

Division of Pediatrics unit87 Houston, TX 77030 HARRIS (713) 792-6610