NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — New hemp regulation laws in Tennessee take effect July 1, and some businesses are already closing up shop or moving out of state due to the impact it will have on them.
At Consider It Flowers, shelves are bare and boxes are packed.
"We built a business around established laws in this state," said Dexter Palmer, co-founder and CEO of Consider It Flowers.
Palmer describes his company as an on-demand, direct-to-consumer online marketplace for hemp products — a model that the new law effectively makes illegal in Tennessee.
New laws taking effect July 1st, will make online sales of hemp products illegal.
The new laws also ban hemp products containing more than .3% dry weight cannabinoids, including THCA.
Click here to learn more about the different aspects of the new laws regulating hemp.
Enforcement will fall under the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
TABC Director Russell Thomas said the new framework is designed to give consumers more confidence in the products they purchase.
"I think our state legislature has developed a really strong system so that our citizens can feel comfortable knowing that when they walk into a store, if they want to buy one of these products, they know what it is, what's in it, they know if it's legal and if it's safe and how intoxicating it is," Thomas said.
With online sales banned and many of their most popular THCA products set to become illegal, Palmer is moving the business to North Carolina, where the company can continue selling to clients outside of Tennessee, but that was never the plan.
"We didn't build our business to sell to Texans or to sell to people in Florida, we wanted to sell to Tennesseans. I wanted to provide access to high-quality cannabis products," Palmer said.
I talked to other businesses who said they are closing down due to the law change.
At Perfect Plant in Nashville, CEO and founder Jackson Campbell told me he’s heard that from other businesses in the field too.
Campbell said Perfect Plant will be staying open, thanks in part to their variety of merchandise.
For businesses choosing to stay open, the transition is still a significant challenge.
"We are going to feel a major loss, and we're bracing for impact," said Campbell.
He’s focused on adding more products that will remain legal under the new rules.
"Canned beverages, we've got new vape options that will be compliant and legal," Perfect Plant said.
The store is doing what it needs to in order to keep the doors open and serve its customers.
"We're just going to adapt and change," Perfect Plant said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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