ing felony charges,” Purcell told the Ob- server in a written statement. “We have spent the last 365 days in dire legal jeopardy, and facing felony charges is like having a loaded gun to your head,” Rob- inson said. “There was absolutely no respite from the financial, reputational, and emo- tional impact on me and my partner. Worse, our families have been devastated. However, today we are beyond grateful that we are surrounded by a team of advocates who know the law and are passionate about help- ing industry stakeholders who are being un- fairly targeted.” They said without the media attention and help from cannabis advocates like Jesse Williams with the Texas Cannabis Collec- tion and Jay Maguire with the Texas Hemp Federation, the case might not have been dropped. The Texas Hemp Federation put them in contact with attorney David Sergi. “There’s no telling how terribly this would have turned out if we hadn’t sought help from advocacy groups like the Texas Hemp Federation, which is dedicated to meeting all threats to the hemp industry,” Robinson said. “Part of [Texas Hemp Feder- ation’s] mission this year is educating law enforcement, prosecutors, legislators about how and why all hemp and hemp deriva- tives are legal, and how to read the licenses, certificates of analysis and the regulations, rules and laws governing the industry. “Their hope is to prevent a repeat of sce- narios like ours, which should never have resulted in a SWAT action at our location, seizure of perfectly and provably legal hemp crop, an arguably illegal arrest and fi- nally bogus felony charges. We are beyond grateful.” The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill legalized the cul- tivation of low-THC cannabis. As long as the product didn’t exceed 0.3% delta-9 THC, the main psychoactive component in mari- juana, it was legal hemp, according to the farm bill. Texas approved its own hemp laws that said virtually the same thing. Passage of these laws sent Robinson and Purcell into the hemp industry. The two say their seized product had al- ready been tested and shown to be under the legal limit. The Navarro County Sheriff’s Of- fice claims the product they tested was slightly above the limit. One sample had 0.378% delta-9 THC and another had 0.468%, according to the sheriff’s office. Even if that’s true, Sky & Hobbs says, that’s not indicative of criminal activity. If anything, it’s indicative of a bad grow, and the law carves out exceptions for when that happens. It’s called a “safe harbor” provi- sion, which allows for natural variations in THC levels. If growers like Sky & Hobbs use “reason- able production practices” and their product has more than the legal THC limit but less than 1%, all they have to do is trash the crop. If the grow yields plants with more than 1% THC, the grower can be cited by the Texas Department of Agriculture for negligence. The grower can only face criminal charges if their crop tests at more than 1% THC and the state can prove they did it deliberately with a “culpable mental state greater than negligence.” Hemp grower Hunter Robinson was cleared of a felony marijuana possession charge. courtesy Sky & Hobbs Organics So, if Sky & Hobbs’ product really did test slightly over the legal limit, all they should have had to do is throw it out and start over. With the dismissal of the felony charge against Robinson, it seems the state would agree. Instead, the legal trouble ran the busi- ness into the ground and forced Robinson and Purcell to relocate and leave the industry entirely. Now that the charge has been dropped, Robinson and Purcell say they’ll be spending time with their families and trying to re- cover from their run-in with the Navarro County Sheriff’s Office. Until there are more protections in place for people in the industry, Robinson and Pur- cell say, they’re out of the business for good. “The financial and emotional devastation that this has caused will not allow Sky & Hobbs to continue operating,” Robinson said. “Until there is protections for those in- vesting into this industry, I personally am staying as far away from it as possible. This could have happened to any of us.” 11 dallasobserver.com CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER JUNE 9–15, 2022
