THC shop owner Alex Noriega sold nearly everything, including his family home, to open Natural Buds on 7th Street. Now his livelihood is on the line.
New federal limits on THC will force cannabis shops in Fort Worth and across the nation to close, according to advocates and proprietors. Business owners say the new regulation, which goes into effect next fall, will cripple a budding industry.
However, to a drug along the lines of Tylenol with codeine and ketamine and asked Congress to revisit the THC prohibition. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.
Noriega supports his family through his THC shop, which has found success since opening two years ago. His shop was profitable enough to even expand to a second location and start his own manufacturing and cultivation. Those plans now could go up in smoke.
鈥淚 am very scared,鈥� Noriega said. 鈥淰oters should be active in this.鈥�
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, added the limit into a bill reopening the government from the longest shutdown in history. The move closes what some legislators called the THC loophole left in the that limited the concentration of Delta-9 THC, the primary chemical in marijuana that induces a high, but left other compounds 鈥� such as tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, or THCA, which converts to Delta-9 when heat is applied 鈥� unregulated.
Inserted midway through the 161-page appropriations package, the language limits the sale of consumable hemp to no more than 0.4 milligrams of total intoxicating tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, compounds per container.
The cap is detrimental, said Candice Stinnett, a Texas Hemp Coalition board member who owns a Fort Worth THC shop and smoke lounge.
At Stinnett鈥檚 shop, Emerald Organics Cannabis, even the lowest-level THC-infused edibles contain 5 milligrams each, with multiple sold per container.
All edibles in Noriega鈥檚 shop contain 10 milligrams of THC, the amount typically sold in states with less restrictive hemp legislation such as Colorado and California.
鈥淲e would close our doors for good,鈥� Stinnett said.
The new language also expands the definition of hemp to include all THC compounds within the cannabis plant. Previous law only limited Delta-9 THC, the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana.
All THC compounds must total 0.3% or less. Cannabis with a higher concentration is considered marijuana, which is a prohibited federally controlled substance alongside heroin and LSD.
Removing THC compounds out of cannabis entirely to comply with the new regulations is not viable, said Jo茫o Mitchell, legislative director for the Texas Cannabis Collective.
鈥淭aking the THC out of the cannabis, even if it鈥檚 low THC cannabis, is like taking the vitamin C out of an orange,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚f you do that, then you鈥檝e turned the product into something it鈥檚 not.鈥�
The new federal regulations come five months after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a state ban on consumable hemp products. Abbott asked the Texas Legislature to impose more regulations on the product 鈥� .
鈥淪eeing the progress that Gov. Abbott has made and what he said in his proclamation, I would trust what Gov. Abbott would want,鈥� Stinnett said.
For Mitchell, who spent months talking with state legislators, the veto sparked hope that cannabis had surpassed being a partisan issue, he said. He was disheartened after hearing about the new federal regulations, he said.
Texas鈥� hemp industry contributes over $267 million in state tax revenue each year, .
Stinnett expects the new regulation to adversely affect those who rely on the substance, she said.
Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress, older people who endure chronic pain, and general customers who ingest THC products to calm anxiety or help themselves sleep are regulars at her shop and lounge storefront, she said.
Those customers would no longer have access to the same products, making 鈥渃riminals out of everyday, law-abiding citizens,鈥� Stinnett said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 heartbreaking because that鈥檚 what I think about first 鈥� the faces and the people in Fort Worth that we see daily or weekly that rely on these products for their quality of life,鈥� she said.
Stinnett worries her customers would look for similar, unregulated products on the black market, she said.
Some of Noriega鈥檚 customers prefer THC products as an alternative to alcohol and other drugs, he said. He worries the new legislation would strip them of a safer alternative, he said.
Mitchell worries reclassification of the substance would open marijuana up to pharmaceutical companies who wish to file patents that would make accessing the substance more difficult, he said.
鈥淭he Texas Cannabis Collective really advocates just completely removing it from the Controlled Substances Act and treating it like a drug like nicotine or alcohol or caffeine,鈥� Mitchell said.
Advocates plan to turn their voices to Washington, D.C.
鈥淢oney talks, and the only way to get stuff done these days politically is to put your money where your mouth is,鈥� Mitchell said.
Noriega, the Fort Worth THC shop owner, intends to double down.
He said he believes hemp is a safer alternative to other substances like alcohol, and he is optimistic that the truth will keep the substance in shops. Noriega will begin offering franchise locations of his shop to investors in April, he said.
His family depends on it.
John Forbes is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at john.forbes@fortworthreport.org.
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