Texas may still be behind the curve on marijuana legalization, but the plant's less intoxicating properties are finding their way into the Austin food stream.
Aside from the CBD products available at local smoke shops, there are a few other cases that may feel a little more mainstream. Prohibition Creamery, for example, appears to be the first ice cream shop in Austin planning to infuse its delights with CBD, which comes from cannabis but lacks the THC traditional marijuana users seek.
Meanwhile, even though Willie Nelson can't sell his Willie's Reserve marijuana joints or vape cartridges in Texas, his company's hemp-infused coffee, Willie's Remedy, is available here and across the nation. The $36 per 8 oz. bag coffee is infused with organically-certified CBD -- about 5 mg per cup.
Willie Nelson will launch a hemp-infused coffee as part of his new Willie’s Remedy wellness line https://t.co/ARLgIE1PT2 pic.twitter.com/M48PHZm6fD
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) February 4, 2019
Then, we've got Austin-based Radix Remedies, which recently launched its e-commerce site with a variety of CBD products that you can have shipped to your house. We've even spotted CBD-infused beverages at local gas stations.
And that's just the tippy tip of the marketplace, which is expected to hit $22 billion by 2022, according to the Brightfield Group.
What's the hype about? The oil has been shown to help some people sleep better, and consumers often say it helps relieve anxiety and ease pain. Meanwhile, a relatively new World Health Organization study seemed to further support the idea that CBD is effective in treating the symptoms of a wide-variety of ailments.
"To date, there is no evidence of recreational use of CBD or any public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD," it reported.
In Texas, officially, CBD is only available through a prescription for people with a relatively rare form of epilepsy. But with the passage of the federal Farm Bill, CBD entered a bit of a gray space in that the bill allowed CBD production but the FDA was still enforcing a ban CBD in food and drinks.
Meanwhile, one of CBD's top Texas advocates is calling for the state to make CBD available to more patients.
"There is no question that the Texas medical cannabis program is working; it's keeping patients safe and ensuring physicians are involved in a patient's treatment every step of the way," Morris Denton, CEO of Compassionate Cultivation, wrote in a recent op-ed in the San Antonio Express-News. "But countless Texans suffer from debilitating conditions that aren't included in the state program."
But questions remain about how effective CBD is for those who aren't prescribed it, and the marketing is moving faster than the research and regulation. For example, the dosages that have proven effective for some ailments is much higher than what you're likely to get in your CBD coffee. Meanwhile, some CBD products have been found to have illegal levels of THC or not contain the advertised CBD oil at all.
In New York City, health officials recently ordered restaurants to not sell food with CBD, and it said CBD had not been "deemed safe as a food additive." But some retailers are simply selling their food and beverage separately from a small bottle of CBD -- letting the consumer combine them.
In Texas, meanwhile, the CBD is increasingly being integrated and sold in various forms, despite the state earlier warning businesses to not sell CBD. As recently as last spring, before passage of the Farm Bill in late December, state officials said it can only be sold by one of three dispensaries approved by the state.
But it's a tricky thing to prosecute. And with the Farm Bill, there seems to be a meaningful opening.
Thus, entrepreneurs are finding ways to fulfill the market demand. Shops and coffee houses, including Restart CBD, Lazydaze Counterculture and Joy Organics in the Austin area, have been offering CBD-infused products for months.
Meanwhile, political tides are largely turning toward decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana in all its forms, with two out of three favoring legalization in a recent Gallup poll.
Want to learn more about marijuana policy in Texas? Check out this piece from the ABJ.
