LISA HOBBS - News Editor
Drew Barrett announced on Wednesday that LLEAF Dispensaries will close its doors.
“Fifty-eight thousand dollars’ worth of product went out of this store today, due to the ban,” Barrett stated, after allowing law enforcement to enter his establishment and remove anything now deemed illegal.
Tennessee implemented a strict state ban on THCA and high-potency intoxicating hemp products, which went into effect on July 1. The ban prohibits the selling of, as well as the shipping and delivery of THCA . That shift came after oversight moved from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Barrett broke the news on his Facebook page via a video.
“We have no recourse. There is nothing we can do. There are no refunds from the people who we bought it from. It just doesn’t work that way. I had a gentleman the other day, basically, yelling at me because we were going out of business. I was trying to let him know that there’s nothing that we can legally order in the state of Tennessee now. He’s complaining that he can’t buy his $28 gummies, but we lost $58,000. We can thank the great state of Tennessee for that.”
LLEAF Dispensaries has been in operation for eight years. According to Barrett, it had over 6,000 customers, most over 50 years old, and 80 percent of its customers were derived from medical referrals.
“I know for a fact that a lot of them are turning into criminals, because they are having to buy off the street to control their pain, their anxiety, to sleep, and for depression. Cancer patients that are trying to get an appetite and hold down their food to have nutrition and they are having to go to the street. It’s sad. We did everything right, above and beyond.”
Barrett expressed his compassion for those customers who now cannot obtain the products they once relied upon. He advised them to blame “big alcohol” and the lawmakers who blocked legislation that would have allowed Tennessee residents to vote on the ban.
While Barrett named someone specific, Warren County Way opted not to.
He questioned where tax revenue went from the sale of cannabis.
“When we got into this, the tax revenue off of cannabis was supposed to establish a Cannabis Council. It was going to have its only law enforcement agency, like the ABC and like the Alcohol Beverage Commission. That would have been great. We would have our own enforcement agencies, our own commissioners, our own licensures, everything. We would not be under alcohol. We collected the tax dollars. We collected the tax revenue. We collected everything and gave it to the state, like we were supposed to. I have no idea what they used the money for. None, and we collected it for years.”
Drew says his family plans to retire and are strongly considering a move out of Tennessee and into a state in which the sale of THCA is legal.
This is very, very sad that we are going to not going to be able to interact with our customers. Seeing them get better, physically better. There are some hopeless people out there who are straight up fighting cancer, and this is the only relief they get and Tennessee does not care. They absolutely don’t care. They’d rather you go get a bottle of alcohol, liquor, whatever, and just drink your pain away.”
Barrett urged people to investigate political candidates and remember this situation when they go to the voting polls.