In the American Canning Machines facility in southeast Austin, silver drink cans jitter in what looks like a miniature cattle corral.
The machine in front of me dances to an alien tempo. It whirrs and pops in 6/8 time. With a forest of spinning limbs, it plucks each can out of the corral and lines them up.
David Racino, co-founder of ACM, said the scene reminded him of Willy Wonka.
"Remember when they're on like that train," he said. "Or some contraption."
The cans are rinsed, filled and sealed so quickly that my eyes aren't sure where to land.
This is one arm of an industry with an estimated value in the billions. Last year, the hemp beverage industry sold around 2.3 million cases. Texas is one of the largest markets.
But these are no ordinary drinks. These drinks will get you high.
On a hot day in June, a few miles north of the canning facility, business owners gathered in an Austin convention center for the Hemp Beverage Expo. The expo is a joint effort between Jage Media, an event organizer in the cannabis space, and the Hemp Beverage Alliance, an advocacy group for the industry.
According to the Hemp Beverage Alliance, hemp beverages are any drinks that contain hemp-derived cannabinoids. Those are the chemical substances found in cannabis and other plants. CBD and THC are the most common, but there are hundreds of other so-called "minor cannabinoids." Your body even makes its own, called endo-cannabinoids.
The expo was not exactly what you picture when you hear the word "hemp." Neat rows of corporate chic booths fill the echoey, well-lit expo space. Business owners exchange cards and promises to stay in touch.
Not the ideal habitat for a stoner.
This was something else — hemp would like to turn over a new leaf.
"We've come a long way since brownie-on-the-couch days," said Jasmine Hupp, a representative from one of the many beverage companies, Joy of the Adventure Living. "Now we have these incredibly, accurately dosed, reliable products. You're gonna know how you feel every time you take a shot."
As I passed through the stalls of the expo, I saw a Cambrian explosion of beverages: opaque purple liquids, turquoise glasses, Corporate Memphis mascots enjoying quality-tested highs. There were energy drinks, tequilas, tropical beers, and even wine.
George Jage, CEO of Jage Media, said this growth seemed to be a natural progression of our culture's built-in love of social drinking.
"Beverage has never been really big in the cannabis space," Jage said, "But I've always believed that if we can change the intoxicant — but not the social lubrication that's so ingrained in our society of gathering around libations and socializing around beverage — that this is where THC as a molecule and cannabis and hemp combined as a plant, as really nature's medicine, can have a massive transformative effect on our culture and society."
Some companies riffed on beer, such as the Austin-based American Weed Company. Ryan Brooks and Jessica Latham, co-founders, picture their products beside the grill.
"This is more like alcohol or tobacco. It's going right into your bloodstream. And you feel it in two to five minutes," said. Brooks. "For example, for me, almost every single time, it's two minutes and 37 seconds, two minutes and 47 seconds. And you really feel it. And it's an energetic, uplifting thing."
Almost all of the business owners and representatives invoked the word "social lubricant." It's a nice pair of words. It sounds both poetic and scientific. The translation is clear: "If you're bored of alcohol, try us."
It makes economic sense. According to a Gallup poll last year, consumption of alcohol has fallen to its lowest point in almost 90 years, with only 54% of Americans saying they drink.
Meanwhile, business owners said hemp consumption has soared.
Some polling seems to confirm this. Another poll by Gallup suggests half of Americans have tried marijuana, with one in six self-reporting as current users.
"It's just a health thing," said Jage. "It's harder. I'm 56 in a week, so if I drink too much the night before, it's really hard for me to get moving in the morning. If I drink hemp beverages and THC, I have none of that effect."
Whatever the reason, the owners said they're drawing in a diversity of customers.
"Everybody," said Latham, when asked who drank their beverages. "From 21-year-olds who basically said no to alcohol, to grandmothers who are also looking for an alternative."
"Our core customer really is like a 25 to 35-year old male," she added.
Target demographics included the elderly, fitness enthusiasts and gamers. They're selling these beverages in restaurants, corner stores, grocery chains and even Target.
With such an array of potential customers — what kind of money's to be made here?
"According to Whitney Economics, the Texas hemp markets have estimated about $5.5 billion," said Jage.
But all these talks of a thriving industry and billions of dollars in revenue happen in the shadow of an imminent threat.
"Right now, we're in trouble. At this point, on Nov. 13, these products aren't going to exist for anyone unless changes get made on the national congressional level," said Hupp.
Most of the products displayed in the Expo are only currently legal because of language in the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC.
"To have that basically deleted overnight would be a massive problem. I mean, it will literally translate to job loss day one for a lot of these people because they have nothing to backfill that loss capacity for," said Racino.
Hupp said the situation is even more confusing right now in Texas.
"The state of hemp in Texas has gone back and forth," she said. "We're currently in litigation to hopefully keep hemp in Texas."
"Is it legal? Is it not?" said Brooks. "It's legal one week. The next week it has to get out of the state. Then it's legal again. And so we've been a big advocate of low-dose THC hemp beverages. We understand the market appetite — not just here in Texas, but nationwide. And we think a low-dose beverage like ours has a chance to make a real impact in the future."
For most of the business owners, the path to salvation is paved with regulation.
Hupp says to survive, this industry will need to take some notes from alcohol.
"I imagine a future where cannabis and hemp are treated equally and fairly and are easily available to the adults that want to choose them," Hupp said. "We imagine great labeling, great packaging, super clear, age-gated ID checks — all the things that we want, regulation. We're here for it. We're to make the best possible, clearest products possible."
It might be the influence of the products, but I didn't see a single frown at the expo. Despite the challenges, as a whole, the industry seems optimistic.
David Racino says it's simple: You can't regulate away demand.
"Consumers always win," Racino said, "They vote with their dollars, and there seems to be broad support for hemp beverages across the aisle and across the nation. And so, I'm not a betting man, but if I were to put a couple dollars on it, I say something gets done here before November."
It's a billion-dollar bet. Come November, we'll see who gets the pot.
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