Tuscaloosa Wellness Shop Closing After New Law Sees Sales Plummet

A wellness shop and vape store will close their Tuscaloosa storefront after a newly effective Alabama law saw sales plummet in July.

HB445 was passed by state lawmakers last year and signed by Governor Kay Ivey. It targeted hemp-derived THC products made legal by the 2018 Farm Bill, which opponents said were indiscernible from legal recreational marijuana products.

One part of the law makes it a felony to sell or possess any smokable hemp flower or any electronic vape containing THC. It will also regulate and restrict those hemp products that are still legal, like low-dose gummies and drinks.

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Freedom CBD & Wellness, which billed itself as the first store of its kind in Tuscaloosa, has reportedly seen a steep decrease in revenue since the criminal part of the law went into effect on July 1st.

Now, a month later, owner Sonya Lowery has said she will close the Tuscaloosa store she opened in 2019 and continue online sales on her website.

In a Monday post on Facebook, Lowery said sales are down 80 percent.

"Unfortunately, it was time to make a decision and we have to do what's best for us at this time," she wrote. "But this is not Goodbye, this is see you later, because we will never stop fighting for your rights and access to these products that you had access to for the last six years. Please support us through the end of this month at our storefront and Online for the foreseeable future while we continue to provide the best products we can find that the state allows us to sell."

Lowery was a vocal advocate in Montgomery while this bill and other, older ones like it went through the legislative process, and said she will continue to lobby for access to THC products in the future.

For more coverage of restaurant and retail news in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.