SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A Senate bill to fund the federal government includes an amendment that could heavily restrict hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products, a move some South Carolina small business owners have said would destroy their livelihoods.
Wade Tolleson, is the co-owner of Amaranth Hemp in Williamston, told 7NEWS the proposal would effectively end the state’s legal hemp market.
“It would completely kill the industry. Ninety-nine percent of the products would be made illegal, and everybody I know that operates in this industry would be considered criminal,” he said. “To see it kind of snuck into a federal bill to reopen the government in my opinion was a cheap shot.”
Many local smoke shop employees, like Tolleson, said they are worried this could wipe out their livelihoods overnight.
“It makes me very nervous,” he said. “Honestly, I got into this industry because I had painkillers since my back surgery and I found a way to find relief without having pharmaceuticals, and I thought I was doing something good for the people of South Carolina.”
A federal law passed in 2018 made hemp legal — as long as it contains less than 0.3 percent THC, the chemical that has intoxicating effects.
Tolleson said most of his customers are middle-aged or older, looking for natural relief without pharmaceuticals.
“Hemp products are not the scary demon that everybody’s making them out to be,” he continued. “A lot of them were meant to be alternative medicine to get over a lot of the pharmaceutical addictions — the painkiller addictions.”
He believes banning these products won’t stop people from using them, adding that it would just push sales underground.
“When you take this industry away, you just give it back to the hands of the criminals they’ve been trying to lock it for years,” he told 7NEWS. “Without having a third party like a store to kind of regulate and manage, you just are playing Russian roulette with every device, every vape, every flower bag that you get.”
Many agreed that the industry lacks regulation, but Tolleson said legitimate businesses like his have been asking for rules for years.
“It has been kind of the Wild West, but the issue I have with all of this is we’ve been begging the federal and state governments for regulation for years,” he said. “We’ve even said, you know, 1,000 feet from schools, have the same restrictions that you have on alcohol. It’s all stuff that we’re very willing to do, but nobody will ever talk to us or work with us.”
He expressed hope that lawmakers will reconsider and find a balance that keeps both the industry and consumers safe.
“I used to say that I was hoping to be leading the medical marijuana push in the state, but here now it looks like I’m going to have to give it all up and just pack up and say I tried,” he said.
The House is expected to vote on the bill as soon as Wednesday night. If it passes, industry groups said the $30 billion legal hemp market could vanish.
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