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(Joshua Guerra)
Tomar & the FCs performed at The ABGB in South Austin on HAAM Day 2019.
Local Latin funk orchestra Grupo Fantasma, Texas supergroup Glorietta and vulnerability researcher Brené Brown are included in the lineup for HAAM Day, an annual fundraiser benefiting the Health Alliance of Austin Musicians, according to a Thursday announcement.
The virtual event is scheduled for Sept. 15 and supports the local nonprofit, which provides healthcare to thousands of local musicians. It will be live-streamed on Facebook, Fox 7 Austin and Luck.Stream.
HAAM Day 2020 raises money to provide healthcare to local musicians. It is the local nonprofit's 15th annual event. (HAAM)
In addition to the official HAAM Day lineup, which includes dozens of performances, more than 150 HAAM members will also be playing their own sets throughout the day on their individual Instagram and Facebook pages. A full schedule can be found here.
HAAM aims to raise $600,000 at this year's event.
"Musicians need our funding now more than ever," HAAM CEO Reenie Collins said in a press release. "Musicians already live in a very fragile ecosystem, and now our musicians and creatives who make Austin 'The Live Music Capital of The World' are devastated with no real relief in sight."
The pandemic—which led to the cancellation of SXSW and the shutdown of bars in March—has had a significant impact on Austin's live music scene.
Some venues, such as Barracuda and Plush, have closed permanently. Researchers at the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs reported in July that up to 90% of live music venues in Austin could follow suit if they're not able to reopen by this fall.
Musicians also bear the brunt. In a survey of its members earlier this year, HAAM found that more than 80% of respondents couldn't meet basic needs because of lost income.
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(Pexels)
House Bill 1325, which was signed in June 2019 by Gov. Greg Abbott, and the Farm Bill, signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018, legalized any hemp product containing less than .3% THC. The same bills were thought to have made Delta 8 legal, though the Texas Department of State Health Services added a notice on its website saying it was still a controlled substance as of Friday, Oct. 15.
Both the federal and state governments keep separate lists on what is considered a controlled substance. Marijuana is considered Schedule I, a category reserved for substances with "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," both statewide and federally.
Austin-based CBD retailer Grassroots Harvest CEO Kemal Whyte, like many CBD shop retailers, was blindsided by the announcement. Many small businesses rely on Delta 8 for their sales—Green Herbal Care CBD said about 90% of its sales come from Delta 8—and Whyte said he is frustrated by the inconsistencies in the drug scheduling system.
(Grassroots Harvest/Instagram)
Since 87% of Texans support the legalization of marijuana, at least for medical use, per a recent poll, Whyte said he wonders who this legislation is for.
"It's gonna have a massive impact on small businesses—there's just no way around it," Whyte said. "The reality is, we don't want to push out anything bad for our customers, we want this to benefit our customers and to help them. If we can make money while doing it, that's the American dream. What are we doing, whose benefit is this for?"
Delta 8 surged in popularity after the perceived legalization—consumers enjoyed its lower psychotropic potency, decreased anxiety while using it and the peace of mind as a legal way to get high. So in order to protect their products and livelihoods, both Grassroots Harvest and Austin-based manufacturer Hometown Heroes are taking legal action.
Whyte said Grassroots Harvest is suing DSHS, saying their action is creating negative effects in the market. Meanwhile, a Hometown Heroes spokesperson said the company is in the process of filing a temporary restraining order that would pause the ban on Delta-8 in the state of Texas.
Threats against Delta 8 are not new—DSHS lost a lawsuit trying to make "smokable hemp products" illegal last year and Texas lawmakers had been considering a bill that would make Delta 8 illegal, though it was dropped after the clarification was made.
Hometown Heroes released a formal statement in response to the DSHS rule.
"I need to be clear—we love Texas, we're just choosing to fight for the will of the people in regards to cannabis in Texas," Hometown Hero CEO Lukas Gilkey said in a statement. "(Texas DSHS) are using backhanded ways to create legislation and go against the will of the people."
Whyte laments the fact that it would be easier legally to "open up a strip club that also sells guns," and said he can't post customer testimonials that mention the benefits of Delta 8 without getting hit with a cease and desist from the Food and Drug Administration. Whyte said he isn't opposed to regulation—far from it—he just wants to see it go through the correct channels.
"The fact that they're stunting our ability to communicate with our clients that want to learn about this, you're preventing us from communicating with them and teaching them, or spreading information that we know," Whyte said. "I think that that in and of itself opens up a lot of questions."
Grassroots Harvest still has Delta 8 products on its shelves for the time being but for how long, Whyte doesn't know.
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