Crossville businessman Maggie Clark believes a swarm of Tennessee Legislature bills that restrict hemp-related products will take the industry away from those who build it and give it to “conglomerates.”

Clark is a grower, manufacturer and retailer, and says her business, Cann-I-Help and small Tennessee stores will suffer even after six years of complying with federal and state laws.

“They think I’m taking off my ass, stealing my blood, sweat, tears, and from scratch, bootstrap business, small businesses, women owning, women manipulating me. I’m away from me. Give it to someone… there’s someone who has been running the federal government illegally for the past 25 years,” says Clark.

This year, there should be a large number of bills handcuffing the industry. This includes shifting regulations on hemp and cannabinoid products to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Alcoholic Beverage Committee.

According to Clark, on that scale, companies need $750,000 in assets to support their business.

“I built this business from scratch with nothing, and now are they going to take it from me?” Clark says.

Industry data shows that since the product was legalized in 2019, it has exploded since it was legalized, and it has been legalized.

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House Bill 1376Sponsored by Portland House Majority Leader Willam Lambers and Sen. Richard Briggs of Knoxville, convenience stores stop selling hemp and cannabidiol products, and make them steamed and liquor stores. I will only tell you. Low levels of THC, the main psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant.

Lamberth argues that his law is necessary to ensure that customers know that they are purchasing potentially “dangerous” products.

“They are obviously powerful addictions, and they are from THC,” says Lambers.

Hemp is distinguished from marijuana in that it contains a compound called delta-9 THC. Cannabis with concentrations of Delta-9 THC below 0.3% is defined as legal hemp in Tennessee and the federal state. Cannabis at concentrations above .3% are classified as marijuana and it is illegal to grow, sell, or own it in Tennessee.

Hemp flowers also contain THCA, a non-toxic acidic acid that is not prohibited in Tennessee. When heated or smoked, the THCA of the plant is converted to Delta 9 THC. This is more illegal than the trace amounts of Tennessee’s trace amounts.

Other bills tax and regulate hemp-related businesses, remove two hemp items, THCA and THCP, from the list of approved hemp-derived cannabinoids, and remove hemp-related products for people under the age of 21. They will further crack down on the businesses they sell.

Clark, who is opposed to legalizing marijuana, says the looming change will bring customers back to the “black market” at the expense of store owners, hemp farmers and manufacturers who developed the business with support from the state. .

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The Tennessee Fuel and Convenience Association is also opposed to the Lamberth bill, saying retailers have experience selling “age-sensitive” products such as beer and cigarettes, as well as hemp and CBD products. Masu.

“It is difficult for the proposed law to eliminate convenience and grocery stores while supporting liquor stores, bars and restaurants,” the association said in a statement.

Rob Icard, president of the Tennessee Grocer and Convenience Store Association, is taking the same stance as the bill will also remove grocery stores from selling hemp products.

“It certainly will have an economic impact,” Icard says.

Seltzer, soaked in hemp, is a big grocery store seller, replacing beer among younger customers and is shipped to liquor stores under this measure.

Two years ago, lawmakers set new guidelines on hemp products and passed the bill they sued. The lawsuit remains in court.

The Department of Agriculture was ready to force the removal of items from store shelves on December 25th last year, but a Nashville judge ruled that hemp products will remain legal until at least June. I did.

Alex Little, a Nashville lawyer who represents hemp growers, says that if the state doesn’t take note, they’ll “kill” parts of the industry.

“There are some bills out there… Thousands of jobs are lost and millions of dollars in tax revenue are off the table,” Little says.

For example, if Lamberth’s bill maintains the TCHA ban, sales will drop by 50% and it is unlikely to predict thousands of job losses.