NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee hemp dispensaries are in jeopardy now that the state legislature passed a bill effectively banning THCA products that can get you high.

A bill that bans hemp products with more than .3% THCA passed Thursday in the Senate. It's heading to the governor's desk.

“We need this industry regulated; it's been the wild west up until now,” said Rep. Kevin Vaughan (R-Collierville).

Lawmakers said the concern is that when it’s heated, it turns into THC, which is the same substance in marijuana that gets you high.

“If we vote this bill down, then Tennessee has totally regulated recreational marijuana,” Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knox County), sponsor of the bill, said.

"Everything we sell is federally legal in our stores,” said Ankeet Patel.

Patel is the owner of Elevated Smoke and Vape Shop in Nashville. “Really the industry brought us to Tennessee, really the hemp laws brought us to Tennessee,” Patel said.

The shop carries a good number of hemp-derived products. “Everything in these cases would be impacted, which is roughly 30 to 40 percent of our business,” Patel said.

Patel showed News 2 naturally derived hemp flower, which could be banned altogether. However, there is still a big question mark on whether or not synthetics would be legal to sell.  

“The product being sold today is nothing, nothing like the product that was being sold 20-25 years ago or 30 years ago,” Briggs said.

Patel said another big concern over the potential law is where his clients will go.

“Pushing the client to the black market raises a lot of question marks as well, or you’re pushing them to behind state lines, which just means another state is collecting the tax that Tennessee should be collecting,” Patel said.

The bill also shifts regulation of the hemp industry to the state's Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/nashville-tn-hemp-dispensaries-bill-banning-thca-passes/