SAN ANTONIO — A social media post got Jennifer Whitworth and Dakota Flack to make the drive from San Antonio to Bergheim, Texas, to check out the greenery at Pur Isolabs. The hemp farm is producing CBD products that may have health benefits for Texans.
“We are the first CBD company and hemp farm in the state of Texas,” Austin Ruple, the founder of Pur Isolabs said. “Our goal was to educate Texans on the hemp plant and its benefits, that it’s not a scary plant. It’s a very healthy plant.”
Pur Isolabs gives guided hemp tours daily.
“[The tour is] definitely packed with information and knowledge,” Dakota Flack said after the tour.
The tour is led by hemp guide Scott, and provides visitors with a plethora of cannabis information.
“As long as it has under .3% THC, it’s considered hemp,” Scott said. “At .31 it becomes medical marijuana. You have to have a license or it becomes illegal for most people.”
The tour takes visitors through the growing process, and an up close and personal view of the plants.
“It was fun. It was very hot, but we got to see some cool things,” Jennifer Whitworth said after the tour.
In 2015, Austin Ruple and his wife started producing CBD products. By 2018, they opened a retail store. After the passage of House Bill 1325 they began growing their own hemp in 2020.
“It was our passion during COVID to let people have a unique experience coming out of COVID,” Ruple said. “Experience something new and be able to interact with the plant.”
For more than a year, hemp growers across the state have been battling the Texas Department of State Health Services after it banned the sale of smokable hemp products in Texas.
“A judge did find it unconstitutional,” Ruple said. “So now they can manufacture smokable hemp flower and sell it in the state of Texas.
The decision means more products are available to help customers with pain, anxiety and insomnia. A decision Ruple says is great for business.