Marijuana is being grown just six miles from the Texas Capitol. The operation is fully legal, despite Texas' strict marijuana laws — the marijuana is medical. The crops are grown, cultivated and examined for quality control in room-sized shipping containers at Goodblend's east Austin farm.
The company is one of the Texas' three licensed of medical marijuana dispensaries, in a state that permits using low-THC medical marijuana for select health conditions. But now, cannabis businesses and the people who use their products are tied up in recent legislative debates over the extent to which Texans should have access to tightly-regulated medical marijuana and consumable hemp products that are part of the flourishing cannabis industry.
Meanwhile, the day-to-day behind the proposed laws continue down a maze of back roads. A coded-gate and long, curved driveway lead to a collection of white shipping containers, several fashioned in a row on the property.
Dillon Dabelgott, the senior manager of cultivation, shows off one of the areas he oversees: A climate controlled pod where medical marijuana is grown. It would be full of cannabis plants, but the latest crops were harvested in the weeks prior. Instead, the container sits mostly empty, with supply outpacing current demand.
Read more at Fort Worth Star-Telegram