Two Tasmanian hemp business owners are founders and operators of the island state’s hemp processing operations. Andi Lucas of the hemp processing facility X-Hemp and Tim Crow of Hemp Harvests proudly embrace the benefits of hemp, but in a recent interview with ABC News, both of them expressed the need for regulations to change.

“I’m effectively being treated as though I’m dealing with some sort of narcotic when in actual fact it’s a crop like grain, or barley, or wheat,” said Lucas about the state of the industry. “I think we missed an opportunity, the rest of the world has the ability to utilize the whole … plant,” added Crow.

In November 2023, the Tasmania government tabled the Industrial Hemp Amendment Bill 2023 in parliament. New regulations associated with the bill would have changed both the 2015 Industrial Hemp Act and the Industrial Hemp Amendment Regulations 2016 to free up restrictions encountered by people like Lucas and Crow.

At the time, Jo Palmer, the Minister for Primary Industries and Water, explained that legislators are committed to improving the state’s hemp industry. “Proposed amendments will improve clarity, efficiency, and transparency for licensees,” Palmer said in a press statement. “It will also provide consistency with existing legislation in relation to police powers, the assessment of suitability of applicants, and definitions for fit and proper persons and responsible officers.”

X-Hemp was founded by Andi Lucas (who is also the Tasmanian Hemp Association’s president). According to her website, X-Hemp is the only cannabis fiber processing mill in Tasmania, and one of only a few throughout all Australian states. “X-Hemp grows its own crops and works with our state’s licensed hemp farmers, converting the grain stubble left from the hemp seed harvest—which was previously being burned off as waste—into saleable products,” the company website states. “X-Hemp sells hemp for building materials, mulch for landscaping, bast for specialty paper production, and other outputs for alternative uses such as animal bedding.”

Lucas told ABC about the benefits of hemp processing and hempcrete production. “Hempcrete as a building material is highly insulating, it’s non-combustible, so it actually won’t ignite,” Lucas said. “It’s fantastic for bushfire areas, that type of thing, it’s a very attractive option for people who are looking to build environmentally sustainable homes. Hemp basically sequesters carbon through the growth cycle of the plant and the building’s life cycle.”

X-Hemp is making hempcrete to be used in the interior construction of the University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) forestry building, which was announced in January 2023. “We’re incredibly excited to be asked to supply material to a huge project that UTAS are building in Hobart and the old forestry building,” Lucas explained. “It’ll be the largest hempcrete building in the southern hemisphere and all of that hemp is being locally grown and processed in Tassie, which is amazing.”

Crow founded Hemp Harvests, a hemp seed processing company which sells hemp seed hearts, hemp protein concentrate, and hemp seed oil. In the ABC interview, he explained that traveling in France and the Netherlands showed how hemp has truly become mainstream. “That’s where they produce fiber which is put into composites—BMW and Mercedes put them into car door panels.” He added that hemp insulation is more beneficial and takes less energy to create versus traditional methods of insulation, although it’s currently more expensive.

He also explored the North American and Canadian hemp markets, specifically how they have evolved and expanded hemp production. “Now there’s a lot of investment going into using the fibers, including building materials—there’s people making natural insulation and flooring,” Crow said.

When the Tasmanian Industrial Hemp Amendment Bill 2023 was shelved last November, the government stated that the industrial hemp industry could be worth $10 billion by 2050, and is an important contribution to help the state move toward sustainability.

Overall, Australians have shown overwhelming support for cannabis in a variety of ways. A recent YouGov poll showed that 50% of Australians are in favor of legalizing a bill that would allow residents to grow up to six cannabis plants for personal use. The poll also showed that 54% of Australians support decriminalization, with 33% saying they do not support decriminalization, and 12% didn’t know.

Last July, Australia became the first country in the world to allow doctors to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA therapy. It was a three-year process and decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration that eventually led to moving psilocybin and MDMA from Schedule 9 substances to Schedule 8.

If recreational cannabis were to be legalized throughout Australia, a May 2023 report shows that the industry could earn $243.5 million per year within the first five years. “This is the first time anyone has shown their working, and set out exactly how their figures were arrived at,” said Legalise Cannabis WA party leader Brian Walker. “On the spending side we’ve got stuff like your police—for chasing a cannabis crime—the courts and the corrective services for managing that. Altogether, that’s about $100 million per year.”

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RealTestedCBD.com aired the “first CBD commercial on major television networks” to promote the website’s lab-tested information on CBD products on Monday, January 3. The website compares analyses of various CBD products, side-by-side, to help consumers safely navigate the hemp-derived CBD industry.

The commercial aired in Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado and San Diego, California’s CBS and ABC affiliates for a 30-second tutorial that explains why consumers need to know what’s in their CBD products. Cannabis ads were nixxed from Super Bowl LIII in 2019, and other companies laid claim to early CBD commercials.

The unbiased platform that is designed to separate fact from fiction about CBD products. The timing couldn’t be more prescient amid the rise of hemp-derived compounds and additives—and people’s health is on the line. For instance, delta-8 THC divides the hemp industry based on the extraction process. Other compounds are emerging, with CBD found practically everywhere. While one product may be highly effective, another may be improperly sourced, contaminated or improperly labeled. 

The website features over 350 CBD reviews about over-the-counter products further educating people, including the consumer who is new to CBD. For people who are concerned about their health, the website—the first of its kind—provides independent lab tested results on all major products including what is in the product, where it came from, how true to the label claims are, and if it passes pesticide screening. You can also find discount codes as a bonus.

“As CBD is becoming more and more common we wanted to make sure we are grabbing the attention of all consumers on all media platforms and TV seemed like the next appropriate place to do it,” Real Tested CBD General Manager Steve Townsend told High Times. “The CBD industry is kind of like the Wild West right now— there aren’t many rules and regulations as to who can create a CBD brand, and who can sell CBD products.”

Townsend continued, “The result of this issue is the creation of an industry where it is very difficult for consumers to distinguish good brands from bad brands, and good products from bad products. By using RealTestedCBD.com we are providing a simple solution to educate someone about all the benefits CBD provides.” 

Beginners may not know the difference between CBD purchased at a gas station versus products sourced from quality retailers. Education is needed, and sometimes it starts with the basics. Invisibly’s Realtime Research survey, for instance, found that 58 percent of Americans still don’t know the difference between CBD and THC—after over 1,000 people were surveyed.

RealTestedCBD.com commercials will run on San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver’s ABC affiliates and Vegas’ CBS affiliate through March 25. To view the commercial, please click here and to learn more about Real Tested CBD, please visit RealTestedCBD.com.

Comparing Lab Results

Real Tested CBD relies on empirical tested data from the independently-owned Earth Labs located in Irvine, California, to show someone what is in a CBD product including where it came from, how true to the label claims and did it pass pesticide screening. 

Currently on the website, 6.04 percent of lab batches failed for pesticides or solvents. For Package vs Tested Average Accuracy, lab batches were off by about 38mg on average. The latest lab batch was updated by Earth Labs on November 15, 2021, at 9:42 am.

The CBD product industry is riddled with misleading labels and unproven claims. You can see the official Earth Lab Testing Report PDFs attached to every product that is reviewed by RealTestedCBD.com.

You can compare test results of products that show not only CBD, but CBG, CBN, delta 8 and other compound content.

RealTestedCBD.com was created to provide the truth to many falsehoods and misinformation there is about CBD. For more information, please visit the website.

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The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the state’s ban on smokable hemp and has scheduled oral arguments for early next year.

After hemp was legalized at the federal level through the 2018 Farm Bill, the following year, Texas state lawmakers approved legislation that bans the manufacturing of smokable hemp products. Often rich in CBD and other cannabinoids, smokable forms of hemp have become popular with consumers, particularly in states without other forms of legal cannabis.

In 2020, four hemp businesses filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court against the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the agency responsible for regulating consumable hemp in the state, and its commissioner, John Hellerstedt. Judge Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court ruled in August that the ban on smokable hemp is unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction barring the DSHS from enforcing its provisions.

“Based on the entire record in this case, the Court concludes that Texas Health and Safety Code Section 443.204(4) is not rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest,” Livingston wrote in her final judgment.

“In addition, based on the entire record in this case, the real-world effect of Texas Health and Safety Code Section 443.204(4) is so burdensome as to be oppressive in light of any legitimate government interest,” Livingston continued in her ruling.

Zachary Maxwell, the president of Texas Hemp Growers, applauded Livingston’s ruling after the judge struck down the ban.

“Today’s ruling is a major win for Texas’ hemp industry, and may set a new standard in similar cases across the country,” Maxwell said in a press release at the time. “The attorneys behind the Texas Hemp Legal Defense Fund fought hard, brought fact-based arguments to the courtroom and proved the undeniable financial harm caused by this cavalier ban.”

Health Department Appeals Injunction Against Ban

On December 3, the DSHS appealed the judge’s ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, asserting that the high court has jurisdiction in the civil case. On December 17, the high court agreed to hear the case, scheduling arguments for March 22, 2022.

The plaintiffs in the suit against DSHS, four hemp companies led primarily by Crown Distributing, argue that the smokable hemp ban is unconstitutional, writing that “the regulation at issue shuts out hemp businesses from manufacturing and processing a good that is legal.” They also argue that the DSHS has interpreted the law too strictly by banning the sale of smokable hemp, noting that the regulations only prohibit the “processing or manufacturing” of such products.

“In June 2019, Governor Abbott signed legislation establishing a hemp program for Texas. Among other things, it directs the executive commissioner of DSHS to prohibit ‘the processing or manufacturing of a consumable hemp product.’ The Rule DSHS later adopted in 2020, however, went much further: The Rule prohibits the ‘manufacture, processing, distribution, or retail sale of consumable hemp products for smoking,’” the companies wrote in court documents.

After the ban on smokable went into effect in 2020, Sam Alvez, the manager of the 7th Heaven Smoke Shop in Killeen, Texas, told local media that his patrons use smokable hemp therapeutically.

“Our customers always tell us how much CBD changes their lives,” Alvez said. “They sleep better; their knees don’t hurt—they’re taking medicine away, that’s what they’re doing.”

With the ban, he noted, a sizable portion of his revenue was put at risk.

“This is likely to cut our business by 50 percent maybe—we’re looking at a good 50 percent. I personally don’t think they know what they’re doing,” referring to Texas lawmakers. “They legalized it, but now they’re taking it back. I don’t understand that part of it.”

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