Gov. Kay Ivey signed a new law restricting sales of THC products, but local stores say the law will heavily impact their business and drive their customers to neighboring states, addictive medications, or the black market.
RSN spoke to stores selling THC products and found at least two stores will have half of their product and sales impacted.
“A large portion of this store — now we can’t have it. We can’t have any of this stuff. ”
One store employee said many customers were elderly, had PTSD, had high blood pressure, or had problems sleeping.
“Their insurance won’t cover pain pills,” the employee said. “It’s going to affect them because now they have to resort to taking meds again.”
Employees say this law will only encourage people to drive to Florida — or take more extreme measures.
“A lot of my customers are upset because now they’re going to have to go back to the streets or do things they wouldn’t want to do, and there are risks involved.”
The store said over half of their sales were from THC products — and another local vape store said the same.
“(Customers) would have to try to find different ways to find these options, and it might not be the legal route,” an employee from another store said. “They might run over to another state looking for something, getting into more trouble.”
“Every single one of us is going to be hit,” one vape store employee said. “It’s going to affect the store personally, especially our pay.”
Employees said no products in their store would stand a chance against the new legislation restricting gummies to 10 milligrams per individually-wrapped item or 40 milligrams per package. Those products would only be able to continue to be sold if stores got special licensing from the ABC Board.
“The only thing in this store that would be able to stay are drinks. There’s not a gummy low enough, there’s not a vape, there’s not a pre-roll, there’s nothing low enough,” an employee said.
Chad “Chig” Martin, the owner of Honeysuckle Hemp who is also making a run for governor, said the law would be “detrimental” to his business.
“Just banning the smokeable products alone was somewhere around 80 to 85% of our sales,” he said. “Trying to live off of 15% of your regular sales isn’t going to cut it.”
He said two-thirds of his business came from people with medical conditions or the elderly.
Martin estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable sales for Alabama would be lost, and he further estimated some 6,000 employees would lose their jobs.
He said customers would have to pay even more to get the same amount for THC products they’d purchased in the past — he used an example of someone who purchased gummies to use 50 milligrams a night to help them sleep.
“Technically, that person can buy the 50 milligrams, but now they can’t afford it,” he said. “They can’t afford to buy five individually wrapped pieces every single day.”
He agreed many people would be sent to illegal routes to replace what the Alabama government took away.
“You’re going to send most of the people back to the black market, where everybody knows that fentanyl is running rampant,” he said. “You take away all these people’s medicine that’s been helping them, you’re going to see an uptick in violent crime in Alabama, and it’s going to be directly related to them passing this bill.”
He also agreed people would be driven to go across state lines to buy these products — taking revenue away from Alabama.
“We’re building tax dollars more and more for our neighboring states,” he said.
One vape shop employee said the new law was a huge and unforeseen blow to their business.
“I never in a million years thought this would happen,” they said.
He’s helping homeless people for the city of Dothan, and now he’s running for a hot school board spot — Justise Black announced his candidacy for District 2 of the Dothan City School Board of Education.
Black, the Director of Grants and Homelessness Initiatives for Dothan Housing, is running to replace Dr. Franklin Jones.
He’s aiming to increase transparency and community engagement, support educators and prioritize student success.
But this 2013 graduate of what was previously Dothan High School is setting his sights higher — he wants to make sure good people stay in Dothan.
He said he wants to make sure students and educators are staying in Dothan because they’re empowered and cared for, and his passion was evident.
“I believe I can help bring us back to that,” he said. “I bring a spirit of unification that I hope will be transformative to what we currently see with our own school board, and if given the opportunity to execute the duties of the office, I’m confident that we’ll see continued growth.”
He’s already a bastion of public service working for Dothan Housing.
Not only does he have experience helping homeless adults — but he’s familiar with helping people going through hard times in general.
“The families that have students in our school system, that have unfortunate circumstances, house fires or hard times, economics that none of us are really immune from, that can create a strain on what it is to just go to school,” he said.
He’s already been working with officials to help students who may not have access to meals or housing, giving students support while they’re developing.
“I think that unique experience allows me to have perspective on how to improve the process,” he said.
Amid a board with much contention and uncertainty, he takes a position of stability.
“I think the pursuit is not that we’ll all agree or have the same mindsets,” he said. “We don’t want unilateral thinking when it comes to a board. We’re meant to challenge each other, but in doing so, tactfully, respectfully and understanding the appropriate amount of transparency in decision making.
“You have to be professional in how you approach the delicacy of people’s lives… More stability in our board is encouraging more trust in our board.”
But he doesn’t only want to see stability within the board itself — he wants to see collaboration.
“I am extremely enthusiastic about the potential that we have here in the city of Dothan to be able to grow our relationships with our local city school systems, our city municipal government and our private sector in a way that can continue to improve on what we are already successfully doing,” he said.
He’s using what he learned from his teaching at Dothan City Schools to make Dothan a better place to live.
“I believe that my skill set and experience and just the passion and other characteristics that make me who I am (are) largely owed to this building behind me and the hallowed halls of what was Dothan High, that we can continue to see an improvement in our governing body and less divisiveness.”
“I think now is an opportune time for new, emergent leadership to bring fresh perspective to our Board of Education,” he said. “I want to pour back into it the best way that I know how.
“New perspective brings a new opportunity, and I know that I’m relentless in my pursuit of progress, and I bring a youth and tenacity. I’m happy to meet and exchange ideas so that we can not worry about being right, but worry about getting it right for our students.”
It’s currently unclear if Dr. Franklin Jones will be running for reelection.
UPDATE: Reports indicate Jaime Brooke Harrell was charged with arson after the fire. Investigators say the fire was set on purpose.
HOUSTON COUNTY: 08:21 AM. Houston County 911 dispatched Columbia Fire – Rescue, Webb Volunteer Fire, Kinsey Volunteer Fire and Headland Fire to a structure fire on Jersey Drive.
Jersey Drive is west of Columbia off Bill Yance Road.
At the time of dispatch Houston County 911 reported smoke and flames visible and no fire hydrants were in the area.
On arrival Columbia Fire reported smoke only visible. The fire units were quick to get fire under control.
Houston County Sheriff Deputies are on the scene along with Kinsey Police Chief Jim Mock.
Last year an inmate died in the Houston County Jail due to medical issues — but some new tech for the Houston County Sheriff’s Office could help prevent that happening again.
That tech comes in the form of sensors from 4Sight Labs worn around the wrist or ankle that allow jail staff to monitor inmates’ health vitals using a cell phone with an app installed.
Sheriff Donald Valenza paid for the sensors from his funds. The 15 sensors the jail now has billed about $50,000, aside from upkeep costs.
They’re not easily destroyed, and the wristband is lockable with a 300-pound resistance, said Captain David Asbill.
The county jail typically has six to eight inmates on suicide watch on any given day, but the sensors can help people with health issues or those recovering from drug or alcohol withdrawals.
Staff can watch for pulse spikes or temperature fluctuations and can go check on the inmate if anything looks off.
Shelby County has been using the sensors for under two years, and they’ve been able to save three lives.
Some certified nursing assistants have stepped in on nights to supply medical care, but these sensors will allow for much quicker action.
“You could check on an inmate right now, then two minutes later, you could have a medical emergency,” Asbill said. “This monitor will let us know immediately.”
Art in Public Places announced a new mural will be coming to Dothan celebrating the Press Thornton Future Masters Golf Tournament.
Muralist Wes Hardin will pain the mural on the side of the BLP building at the corner or Main Street and Cherokee Avenue — along the route to the Dothan County Club, where the tournament is held every year.
“We’re overjoyed to launch Art in Public Places’ first mural in partnership with a long-standing community event that continues to bring people together from around the world,” said Holly Meyers, Executive Director of APP. “This mural reflects our goal of creating meaningful public art in places where people already live, work, and move through every day.”
