There are a million things this administration has done that have made me want to light myself on fire. But one in particular, buried in the fine print of a recent bill, is an issue I truly believe both Democrats (me) and Republicans (basically everyone else in this state) can actually agree on: the benefit of small, local businesses and why it is so important for all of us to support them. And so, I am writing in support and defense of one of my favorite Lowcountry small businesses that is currently on the chopping block due to this administration’s recent actions: High Rise Beverage Co.
Earlier this month, Republicans included a provision in the bill to reopen the government that would revoke the loophole allowing hemp-derived THC and CBD products to be sold nationally. This change would once again criminalize the sale of hemp-derived THC products, effectively shutting down businesses like High Rise overnight. Since 2019, a bevy of companies selling products like seltzers, oils, creams and gummies have popped up across the country and the state, generating nearly $3 billion in annual sales. And while many conservative politicians somehow see this industry’s success as a moral failure that must be remedied, I see it as something that has actually helped so many people.
High Rise, a Lowcountry company selling CBD and THC seltzers, has been one of my favorite success stories. Aside from the fact their products are tasty and safe, their business practices and customer service have been phenomenal, too. They work with many local restaurants to give people who don’t drink alcohol a choice other than Coke, water or a $7 juice mocktail. They give people a real alternative for Dry January, Sober October or simply living alcohol-free altogether. They give people suffering from chronic pain a much safer option for pain management — an option that allows them to potentially avoid dangerous and addictive prescription opioids that have destroyed millions of lives.
But for me, the most important impact I’ve witnessed? They gave a woman suffering from stage four terminal cancer the ability to eat one of her last meals with her friends and actually enjoy it. After weeks of being unable to even look at food due to nausea and depression from her diagnosis, one can of Blood Orange High Rise THC seltzer allowed our neighbor to eat three pieces of pizza and have a good, true belly laugh with her friends two weeks before she passed away.
We love High Rise so much that when my sister and I travel to Washington state each year for a concert weekend at The Gorge, we bring cases of High Rise with us, even though we could easily buy similar products there. They are that good, that consistent and that reliable. We love sharing them at our campsite and telling people about this great company based in South Carolina that makes an amazing product. We genuinely feel High Rise is a brag-worthy business.
THC is not some scary drug. It’s not fentanyl or heroin. It’s safer than alcohol. So many people across the Lowcountry enjoy THC and CBD drinks — at BBQs, birthday parties, weddings, engagement parties or out to dinner with friends. At funerals, during chemo, after the death of a pet or after a hard day. For me, their CBD drinks have helped with my anxiety and made it possible for me to go months without drinking alcohol at all.
This is a local business that does a fantastic job and clearly cares about its customers and its community. A business that has created jobs in our area and become an active member of our community. And now Republicans are basically stealing their business out from under them. I challenge anyone to find me one person in this state who died from a “High Rise overdose” in the last seven years. Who got so sloppy on a CBD seltzer that they sexually assaulted a woman, hit their partner, became combative with police, killed multiple people in a car accident or ended up in the hospital nearly dying from being poisoned — like so many people in this state do from alcohol each day. You can’t, because it doesn’t happen. By letting this provision go unchallenged, we are taking away people’s choices, encouraging them to drink alcohol, turn to unsafe practices like buying unregulated weed on the street that could be laced with any number of deadly drugs like fentanyl, and destroying a local, beloved small business in the process.
We might not agree on much, but I have to believe my Republican counterparts did not vote to run good business owners out of Charleston and bankrupt their businesses that have had real, personal, positive impacts on so many people across the Lowcountry.
I understand I am a blue dot in a red state, but I genuinely believe this issue is one we can all get behind, regardless of political affiliation, and one we can prevent from taking a negative toll on our community — together. Please contact your representatives and support small businesses like High Rise, and tell them the provision to recriminalize hemp-derived THC and CBD products and destroy small businesses across South Carolina and the country is as un-American as it gets.