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A new amendment that essentially bans the sale of THCA could have tragic effects for local businesses. Tennessee lawmakers passed the bill Wednesday in attempts to regulate the hemp industry.
Business owners say the degree by which they’re affected will vary, but the message is the same: if the amendment is signed into law, stores will be affected, and the law could pose risks to consumers.
An amendment made by Representative Mark Cochran (R-Englewood) added on Wednesday that would prevent the sale of hemp containing a total THC content over 0.3%. As most of these products include THCA as a kind of precursor to THC, the bill would essentially ban the sale of TCHA products altogether, or 60% of revenue for local businesses in the hemp industry.
The new amendment would prevent the sale of hemp that contains a THC content higher than .3%, which includes the cannabis precursor, better known as THCA. THCA is found in a majority of hemp-derived products, so if the amendment is signed into law, local businesses would take a major hit.
“I have four display cases in my store, and three of the four display cases would have to be emptied,” Hunter Mullis, owner of City Smokes, says.
Hemp business owners like Mullis say the amendment creates an incentive to sell hemp products that are lower in quality and more dangerous.
“They made a rash vote, and now they can’t get the natural form. They can only get the lab-made stuff and extract it. That’s way more harmful,” Mullis says.
For City Smokes, a family-owned business, he says the amendment is especially unsettling for them, because in their year of operation, they’ve worked hard to provide customers with the safest options on the market.
“We spend a lot of money on quality products, so every week, I’m spending tens of thousands of dollars on high-quality products: the best brands, name-brand stuff,” Mullis says.
He says word of the proposed amendment has traveled and sparked concern for customers.
“Even today, I’ve had three people come in, worried about what’s going on, and I’ve explained what I’ve explained to you–it’s up in the air right now, and we’ll continue to take care of them as much as we can until we can’t,” he says.
City Smokes, alongside other local businesses and statewide organizations, have been pushing back against the regulations and say they won’t back down.
“It’s not the end of the world. It sucks, but we’re not going to stop fighting for it,” Mullis says. “We’ll risk it every day until we have to, and until they come knocking, we’re [going to keep] going.”
The amendment is now awaiting the Senate’s decision.
”}]] Learn about the potential tragic effects on local businesses due to the new THCA sale ban amendment in Tennessee. Business owners are concerned about the risks posed to consumers and the industry as a whole. Read More
