A statewide poll in Texas revealed that six out of 10 adults support legalizing cannabis in the state—the first time the poll has shown a solid majority. The issue of cannabis is gaining increasing bipartisan support, gaining support from states that typically vote blue or red.
According to results from the 18th annual Texas Lyceum Poll, 60% of adult Texans say they support adult-use cannabis—representing a 14% jump from the last time the survey asked about marijuana in 2015.
“Overall, 60% of Texas adults say that they support legalizing the use of marijuana in Texas, a 14 point increase since the question was last asked in 2015, when a majority of voters (50%) expressed opposition. Asked about expanding legal casino gambling in Texas, 57% of Texans said they would be supportive of expanded casino gambling, while 28% said they would be opposed.”
The Dallas Morning Newsreports that only older adults, Republicans, and self-identified conservatives were divided on support for adult-use cannabis. Among Texans over the age of 65 and Republicans, 49% said they support legalization, and among those who identified as conservative, 46% were in support, and 31% of those polled said they oppose cannabis legislation.
The questions weren’t always clear as to why people oppose legalizing cannabis. For instance, some simply want to decriminalize it instead: Among those who oppose legalization, 42% said that they would support decriminalizing possession of small amounts to a citation and fine. The poll also asked about numerous other topics such as politics, religion, housing, and space exploration. Gambling is also gaining support in Texas, according to the Texas Lyceum Poll.
In November of this year, the Texas Lyceum will hold a conference on South Padre Island entitled, “Win, Lose or Draw: The Future of Marijuana and Gambling in the Lone Star State.”
The state’s unique politics come into play when it comes to cannabis. Texans have voted Republican in every general election since 1976. Some analysts believe that having a Bush on the ticket in every election from 1980 through 2004 (except 1996) helped cement Texas as a “reliably red state.” In 2020 however, that lead waned, and Donald Trump won the state by 6.5% over Joe Biden, the narrowest margin since 1996. But the demographics in Texas are changing quickly.
Patients who are eligible can access low-level THC cannabis under the state’s compassionate use program, established in 2015. But it only allows certain physicians to prescribe low-THC products to patients with seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions. The Texas Legislature expanded the program’s eligibility to include patients with all forms of PTSD and cancer in 2021.
Texas Cities Decriminalize
Decriminalization attempts at the city level have faced opposition from state leaders.
Last February, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed lawsuits against five cities that have passed cannabis decriminalization measures. The lawsuit was filed against the cities of Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, and Denton “for adopting amnesty and non-prosecution policies that violate Texas laws concerning marijuana possession and distribution,” according to the attorney general’s office.
In 2022, the five cities enacted ordinances or civic policies that bar police officers from enforcing state laws prohibiting the possession or distribution of cannabis.
After filing the lawsuits, Paxton said that such policies are prohibited by the Texas Local Government Code, which bars municipal and county governments from adopting “a policy under which the entity will not fully enforce laws relating to drugs.”
“I will not stand idly by as cities run by pro-crime extremists deliberately violate Texas law and promote the use of illicit drugs that harm our communities,” Paxton said in a statement on Wednesday. “This unconstitutional action by municipalities demonstrates why Texas must have a law to ‘follow the law.’ It’s quite simple: the legislature passes every law after a full debate on the issues, and we don’t allow cities the ability to create anarchy by picking and choosing the laws they enforce.”
In 2022, Denton voters approved an ordinance to decriminalize cannabis, with 71% of voters in favor, but some officers and the mayor of Denton ignored the law anyways. High Times also reported on Texas cops who essentially ignored hemp laws in Texas and the 2018 Farm Bill and raided hemp sellers anyways.
Currently, possession of up to two ounces of cannabis in most areas of Texas is a Class B misdemeanor and punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. Possession of over two ounces can result in up to a year in jail, and more than four ounces is a felony crime, with a mandatory minimum sentence of two years.
Any amount of cannabis concentrate is considered a felony in Texas punishable with a minimum $10,000 fine and 180 days in jails. In addition, paraphernalia is also illegal and can result in a $500 fine.
This nearly 200-year-old New York farm has harvested organic crops, horses, chestnuts, and now, legal cannabis.
Immigrants have always come to the United States in search of a better life. But they can’t anticipate what their descendants might do in a new land. Lucas Kerr’s industrious ancestors likely never would have guessed that, one day, sprawling cannabis plants would grow on their family farm.
Kerr’s family came from Scotland in 1840, settling in the Catskills in 1846 on a few hundred acres to jumpstart their American dream. Torrwood Farm, as it’s called, has been many things over the last two centuries—harvests of organic crops, a horse farm, replanting sites for chestnut trees, and a water farm with some of the cleanest water in the country. Now, the leafy stalks of cannabis grow among black walnut trees, seasonal veggies, and apple orchards.
“We’re never going to be the Walmart of cannabis,” says Torrwood Farm owner Lucas Kerr. “But we don’t want to be a mom and pop. We want to be somewhere in the middle.” (Torrwood Farm)
Kerr didn’t expect to go into farming. He’d visit the historical site with his extended family for holidays, but his dreams lay elsewhere. During the Iraq War, Kerr joined the military, working his way up the ranks to the coveted 75th Ranger regiment. He did, as he puts it, “quite a few” tours, and rejoined civilian life with a business plan contracting with the Department of Defense. But he was noticing that many of his fellow veterans weren’t faring so well. Veterans dealing with injuries were given opioids without much supervision or consideration for adverse effects, while others struggled to cope with the post-traumatic stress of combat after an abrupt return home.
“I lost more friends to suicide and to the opioid epidemic, where the VA was just giving out pills like candy… It was insane. As I got more involved and evolved within the cannabis industry, I just said, ‘this is the answer for a lot of these guys.’”
Lucas Kerr, Torrwood Farm
Kerr discovered, as many veterans—including cannabis pioneer Dennis Peron—do, cannabis provided a holistic, medicinal alternative. While New York had established its medical marijuana industry in 2016, it exclusively licensed multistate operators with a limited range of products.
After the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, Kerr began researching hemp, hoping to eventually manufacture bandages for the army. He was living in California when the pandemic hit, but took the risk to fly back to New York and break ground on his first hemp harvest. “I just bootstrapped it and went out there with no farming experience, and just started figuring it out on the fly,” he told Leafly this fall.
Kerr began farming hemp in anticipation of New York’s adult-use legalization, and got his cultivation license in 2022; he later also acquired licenses for processing and distribution. But cannabis is a fickle plant, and after a long search for the perfect lead grower, Kerr hired Paul Bernal to take the cultivation reins.
Bernal grew up in New England but learned the cannabis trade in Humboldt, California. His methods reflect the symbiotic, California approach. He tries to feed the grow from materials found around the farm, harness the sunlight, and cultivate for both terpenes and cannabinoids.
“We want to give people uniqueness…The one thing that I was always taught from these old hippies is, ‘take care of the soil.’ It’s all about the local biology that you put into the soil—that then will give you the best outcome you could expect with working with nature for that year. So every year is different. Every plant is different.”
Paul Bernal, Torrwood Famrs
Torrwood currently cultivates, processes, and distributes a growing roster of products, including flower for Doobie Labs, prerolls for Dash and Weekenders, and a new line of gummy edibles. Both Paul and Lucas anticipate 2025 will be the year for Torrwood’s own brand to launch with a line of unique genetics to allow consumers, as Bernal puts it, “push the vision into whatever direction that they want to go into.” The harvest season has become a family affair, with Kerr relatives pouring in to help prune the plants.
What makes a great restaurant experience? The food, obviously. Service is also paramount. And the space itself can’t be overlooked.
Astoria, Queens, is full of top-notch eateries, from Greek to Vietnamese to Venezuelan. Earlier this year, they added cannabis to the menu with the opening of a handful of legal dispensaries. One of the best is Cannavita Dispensary, located at 30-30 Steinway Street.
Cannavita general manager Allie Carney and owner Marko Popovic met years ago while working in New York City’s restaurant industry. They learned the ins and outs of how to provide guests with an unforgettable dining experience. Now, they have a fleet of native Queens budtenders working with them to apply the same hospitality principals to shopping for cannabis.
“Every brand has some story behind it. We want to provide Astoria the best possible products from the cannabis market.”
Marko Popovic, co-owner of Cannavita
Cannavita is located on a street full of restaurants and stores. For commuters and munchers on the go, they provide quick work during a busy day. Cannavita’s menu offers hundreds of choices for consumers across flower and prerolls, edibles, vaporizers, and concentrates, with brands like Electraleaf, Chef For Higher, KIVA, Aeterna, and Blotter on deck. Their team largely hails from Queens as well, giving a local texture to patrons seeking recommendations.
(Christian Brown / Leafly)
“Marko and I have known each other for so many years; we come from restaurants, so now to finally have something [where] we can take that customer service and put it into reality—none of this is lost on us.”
Allie Carney, manager at Cannavita
Popovic received his CAURD license along with a silent partner who had a previous cannabis charge. Both he and Carney emphasize that equity and social justice are a huge part of Cananvita’s model. Cannavita collaborates with justice-focused organizations like the Last Prisoner Project and hosts regular social events to elevate locals’ experiences with cannabis.
“Prioritizing people, justice-involved individuals, who’ve had their lives burned by the War on Drugs. We want to make sure that we contribute to those efforts.”
Allie Carney, manager at Cannavita
Beyond Cannavita, Carney and Popovic encourage locals and visitors to indulge in the full Astoria experience when they visit. There’s an endless list of restaurants, riverside parks, and the museums (we love Museum of the Moving Image, an interactive museum that celebrates cinema, television and visual media) nearby.
As Cannavita’s one-year anniversary approaches in spring 2025, Carney says that the dispensary’s ethos is to be the best in the business, and to foster a sense of “peace and community and comfort,” for everyone who walks in the door.
(Christian Brown / Leafly)
Cannavita’s team delivers on that mission with a rich events schedule including yoga seshes in the morning and art gallery parties at night. Follow Cannavita on Leafly for updates on deals, events, and new product drops. And next time you’re in Astoria, stop by the posh storefront, which looks and feels like a luxurious tropical getaway from the concrete jungle.
I’ve been on the gummy beat a long time, Leafly Nation, and I’ve had my fair share of flops and fabulous treats—from cup winners that send me to the moon to oily, gelatin-based trips that barely registered. I’ve found that no matter the consistency, the nano-techonology, or the flavor, the single greatest indicator of your gummy experience is how they get the weed in it. And the best extraction process, by far, is rosin.
In dab communities, rosin (call it hash, call it hash rosin, call it whatever—you know what I’m talking about.) Solventless cannabis extraction isn’t the most efficient, but it keeps all the terps, ‘noids, and entourage compounds intact to elevate you well beyond distillate oil. I’ve scoured coast to coast for the best iterations of rosin and hash-based gummies for you all to make the most of these last weeks of summer.
California
Lost Farm THCv Mango Amerelo rosin gummies
(Courtesy Kiva)
How to make a product stand out amongst crowded dispensary shelves has long plagued cannabis brands. How to make a new product stand out when nearly all your bags are bangers appears to be no issue for Kiva. They have awards, word of mouth, and sales in multiple states to prove that people will pick up what they put down, from espresso beans to mints to their ever-growing line of gummies and chews. I have tried dozens of Kiva products at this point, and I always come back to these, particularly with the high-THCv strain here that will keep you uplifted and away from too many munchies.
You think Simone Biles won Olympic Gold in Paris by coasting on her laurels? No, she worked even harder to be better than before. Edible brand Camp have done the same, working on their popular resin-based gummies to make them more potent, more flavorful, and with a more multifaceted experience. So now, they’re made with rosin! Consumers get three flavors to choose from—orange, blackberry, and peach—to enhance the mirages they may see in the Nevada desert.
Massachussetts
Suncrafted live rosin gummies
(Courtesy Suncrafted)
Even across multiple states, the Massachusetts-based Suncrafted Cannabis Co beat out all licensed gummy manufacturers and took gold with their Blue Raspberry rosin gummies at the 2024 NECANN cannabis awards in Boston earlier this year. They also took multiple awards for their solventless concentrates, proving that the proof really is in the solventless pudding.
Maine
Landrace Hash Co rosin jewels
(Courtesy Landrace Hash Co)
Maine admittedly isn’t the most conveniently located hash Mecca, but it’s worth the trip. The Pine Tree State has an abundance of trees, and they know how to press them. Landrace Hash Co makes strain-specific rosin “jewels” because the edible experience is so valuable. And the strains they choose are elite, including Pineapple GMO and Waterlemon Road Dawg.
Michigan
Bursts rosin gummies by Sauce
(Courtesy Sauce)
Michigan has led the Midwest in product innovation and, Sauce’s rosin gummies are a testament to continuing to push the envelope. Think of it as pulling a piece off the ol’ slab, as these come packaged as one giant, 200 mg THC gummy ready to be divided into as much or as little as you can handle.
Maryland
SunMed + Airo Oria live rosin gummies
(Courtesy Oria)
SunMed is one of the biggest cultivators in Maryland, and one of the few committed to exclusively sungrown cannabis. Their relatively “crunchy” approach translates to flavorful flower that doesn’t sacrifice potency—and by extension, edibles that take consumers above and beyond. This collaboration with the vaporizer brand Airo brings consumers a citrus and blackberry gummy dubbed “Black Mamba” for an edible experience that stuns on impact.
Oregon
Happy Cabbage BLOX rosin gummies
(Courtesy Happy Cabbage)
Sometimes a single gummy is all you need—one enormous, potent gummy. Happy Cabbage make regular-dosed gummies, but they are known for their BLOX, 100mg of rosin-based THC in tasty, fruity flavors like Passion Orange Guava (sativa) and Midnight Melon (indica). Plus they’re vegan, gluten-free, and low-sugar to accomodate different dietary needs.
When Washingtonians want to shoot for the moon and land among the stars, they find a constellation. Constellation’s Gravity gummies use solventless hash oil in a broad range of flavors and formulas, including high-CBG and CBD options for those who’d rather stay below under cruising altitude.
Colorado
Canyon Cultivation rosin gummies
(Courtesy Canyon)
It’s hard to stand out in one of the country’s oldest cannabis markets, but Canyon Cultivation has done it. Their expanded roster of “chew-its” include three new flavors, Paradise Punch, Blueberry Pomegranate, and Blue Raspberry, all with a live rosin formulation. Each gummy clocks in at 5 mg THC, and contain no gluten and minimal amounts of sugar.
See also: Northern Standard live rosin gummies
Arizona
Baked Bros hash rosin gummies
(Courtesy Baked Bros)
Get in the ‘zona with Baked Bros’ growing line of rosin-based gummies. Each flavor is meant to pair with the single-strain extraction, i.e., Frozen Guava rosin goes with the blood orange gummies. They’re also adding an Arizona punch flavor with Prickly Pear OG flower later this year, so stay tuned.
See also: Copperstate rosin gummies
New Mexico
Verdes live rosin gummies
(Courtesy Verdes)
New Mexico has proven its cannabis industry is all about the new. Verdes brand gummies pair their rosin formula with contemporary, cutting-edge flavor combinations, like blackberry gummies with a lavender-infused sugar coating, or watermelon gummies with a dusting of Tajin chile.
Missouri
Honeybee solventless gumdrops
(Courtesy Honeybee)
The Show Me State continues to show out in the infancy of its adult-use cannabis industry. The edible brand Honeybee makes many succulent flavors of their vegan gumdrops, and now add two solventless SKUs to the roster. Available in Tangerine Dream and Strawberry Basil Mojito, these rosin-fueled drops have just 5 mg of THC each, allowing you to munch on as many or as few of them as you can handle.
New York/New Jersey
MFNY rosin gummies
(Courtesy MFNY)
The more cannabis knowledge crosses state lines, the better all cannabis lovers and medical patients will be. Marijuana Farms of New York, or MFNY, have taken some cues from California for their artisanal, small-batch approach to flower, prerolls, concentrates, and edibles. Their line of vegan gummies pair strains to the flavanoids in their fruit-based flavors—i.e., the cherry gummies pair best with Poddy Mouth’s savory terps.
See also: Rezinators by Jaunty
Oklahoma
Mindful Indulgence Lodoz rosin gummies
(Courtesy Lodoz)
Don’t let the name fool you—these rosin gummies feel anything but “low dose.” Mindful Indulgence partnered with local cultivator Tribe to concoct these rosin-based, nano-powered gummies in flavors like Peach Hibiscus and Strawberry Rhubarb to deliver a more vibrant experience without the dreaded edible wait time. They also produce a higher, 25 mg THC per gummy dose for those needing more efficient medicine.
Montana
Cannabis Counter rosin gummies
(Courtesy Cannabis Counter)
The Big Sky State wants to be known as the Big High State. Their adult-use industry rolls out more and more beguiling products and formulas. Cannabis Counter have amped up their gummy line to a two-pronged approach, both made with live rosin and enhanced absorption. Consumers can choose between strain specific gummies like Papaya Bars, or a more effect-based approach with options like sleep and focus.
Illinois
On the Rocks rosin gummies
(Courtesy Verano)
Verano gets my nod for their new brand of solventless products including vapes, concentrated, and gummies, dubbed On the Rocks for its straight-up approach. Their rosin gummies deliver full-spectrum effects in tasteful flavors like Peach Mango and Sour Apricot Apple, the latter of which won third place at the 2023 Illinois High Times Cup.
This story must end, but your gummy journey is just beginning, Leafly.
Hit the Gummies Near You page on Leafly to see what’s chewy, gooey, and lit near you. (Just be sure to select your location in the top right corner.)
