Local business owners react to new hemp product law

Owners and managers are not buying the claim the law was signed to protect children, either. Tyler Underberg, the owner of Pure Releaf on 13th Street — which carries CBD products — wondered where the tragic story was regarding a child who was negatively impacted from such products.

“Why was this necessary?” he asked. “I do not condone giving these to kids.”

HF2605 will strip Pure Releaf of every single product the store offers. Underberg’s customers are between the ages of 50 and 95, and his products are not marketed to children. His customers have all expressed anger over the law.

“They come here for relief from pain, anxiety, for sleep,” he said. “Pain is the number one problem I help people with. They can’t take a bunch of ibuprofen or Tylenol. The CBD gets rid of their pain.”

Some of the consumable hemp products offered at Marshall Tobacco and Vape Outlet include gummies, cookies and suckers. They are not marketed to children. A new law restricts each serving to have no more than 4 mg of THC.

Josh Brown, manager of Marshall Tobacco and Vape Outlet on Main Street, said the law will wipe out all but two of the hemp products from his shelves. He said the store purchased permits for every single product, and then the state legislature enacted a ban.

“I don’t understand why we’re going backwards,” Brown said. “I have people come in here with cancer, broken bones, people who have all kinds of different, serious medical illnesses that would rather lean on cannabis products and THC than take pharmaceuticals.”

One of those people is veteran Christian Banzhaf, who occasionally helps out in the Vape Outlet and uses the hemp products for service-related ailments. Banzhaf is not the only veteran who utilizes the Vape Outlet. Brown said another veteran with nerve damage will regularly come in for the THC caramels or peanut butter cups.

“Because they’re delicious and they help him,” he said. “He doesn’t want to take pharmaceutical pain killers. He wants something natural, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I don’t think anybody should tell us otherwise. Why are we taking this from people who need this? Because of children? Kids don’t shop here.”

The Vape Outlet hemp packages clearly state they are for people aged 18 and older. Brown asked how the business could be blamed when the packages are clearly age-restricted, and employees or owners do not sell to minors.

“I would personally never sell to anyone under 21,” he said. “If you call any store at all in Iowa, I guarantee you 100 percent, they will tell you the exact same thing. So, how are minors getting a hold of it? What’s going on is parents are buying it for their kids so they are not going out and getting stuff off the street. That’s exactly what’s happening, and has been happening since the dawn of alcohol.”

Underberg said that if his CBD products are somehow given to children, it is only through their parents and primarily for seizures.

‘Stay afloat’

Both Underberg and Brown are facing the possibility of severe effects on their living situations. Brown said the business will lose close to 40 percent of its revenue.

“Everything I’ve invested will be gone, and I will be left with nothing,” he said.

Underberg is now trying to stay afloat. He poured his last dollar into opening Pure Releaf and ensuring his products would relieve customers of their ailments while containing less than .03 percent of THC.

“I am here for the people who do not want to get doped up, but be pain free,” Underberg said. “These are not narcotics. Maybe if you take 50, you might feel something. I specifically removed the THC. This is medical-grade CBD for real problems, not to get high. Now, I can’t sell. No one can. This is the end of the industry without saying it is illegal.”

While a lot of focus has been placed on the 4 mg per serving limit, Underberg said it was the 10 mg per container limit that will be the industry’s death blow.

“No one sells CBD single servings,” he said. “For a tincture, you don’t buy a dropper full. [The container limit] will make all products on the market obsolete.”

However, Underberg is not going down without a fight. He is trying to get a state license for a food-grade kitchen, which is required to repackage his products. Essentially, Underberg said he will place four pills per bag, which will mean a lot of unnecessary plastic will wind up in the Marshall County landfill.

“I am not going to leave my customers hanging,” he said. “I am going to do what I can to get set up with a food-grade kitchen, but I need to do it by July 1. I am scrambling at this point.”

Speak out

Even though the governor’s signature might have come as a surprise to some, Underberg was not surprised HF2605 was being discussed. He added there has been a push in every single state that has not legalized marijuana to make hemp and CBD products illegal. When Underberg heard about the law, he called every single legislator to tell them how detrimental it would be to Iowans who rely on CBD and to the industry.

“They are playing like they knew nothing about it, but they all did,” Underberg said. “I made sure they knew how to accomplish their goals without ruining the industry.”

Rep. Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown) was one of the legislators contacted by Underberg. She said while the bill was being discussed, legislators primarily focused on beverages. Cahill thinks ramifications on the consumables were not explored thoroughly enough.

“They got the shaft,” she said. “The healthcare purposes of the products were not taken into consideration.”

Underberg and Brown urged Iowans to contact their elected officials and speak out against the new law, and they are expecting a class action lawsuit to move forward. Underberg is anticipating a drawn-out fight and does not think anything will happen until next year.

“By then, it will be too late,” he said.

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Contact Lana Bradstreamat 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.