Speaker: Kristhel torre, Event Curator, Kanna
Kristhel torre: Hi, my name is Crystal and I am from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am a community event curator and host, and for over a year, I've been bringing people together through art, creativity, and hemp culture. I create safe spaces where people can relax, express themselves, and connect with others, and honestly, enjoy a social experience that doesn't revolve around alcohol. I believe hemp has the potential to support wellness, creativity, small businesses, and, honestly, as well as stronger communities. Rather than eliminating hemp, we should focus on regulating it responsibly. I definitely support protecting consumers, but I also believe we can do that without taking away opportunities for entrepreneurs and communities. We want safety, not prohibition. Let's regulate him responsibly instead of eliminating an industry that brings so many people together. I hope you guys heard my message and I hope you guys have a beautiful day.
Kristhel torre: Hemp and the hemp industry has not only allowed me to become an entrepreneur, but be able to. Have enough to survive in this economy, respectfully. It's definitely also helped me deal with anxiety and depression. And it's helped me build community. Through the events that I host and and. The connections that I've built through that. Yeah.
Kristhel torre: It has honestly already affected me before December 11th. I can no longer host the events that I was hosting, because the hemp friendly event space that I was hosting these community events that has decided to shut down due to the uncertainty of what is going to happen on December 11th. So for the rest of the year, I have no income. That was my income. I can't host anymore. Not at that level.
Kristhel torre: Honestly, the decision. That will be made on December 11th has already impacted me even before that day. I am no longer able to host the events that I was hosting for the community and bringing all these people together, which means I also don't have an income anymore. The event space that I was hosting out of, which was hemp friendly, had to shut down due to the uncertainty of what December 11th could bring. It has just crushed me, honestly. Not being able to. Have these like-minded people come and relax, and me me being able to curate such special events that has brought so many people together. So many laughs, so many smiles, so, so many connections, But yeah, also, I again, I don't have an income anymore. That was my income, so.
Kristhel torre: What I want my lawmakers to get right. I One, protecting the consumers. Nobody wants to have a bad experience, We should know where our product is coming from. We should know who's growing it. We should know the levels of hemp, all of that. We should know, we should have access to that information. We should regulate who has access and what age. Should have access to that, 21 and up sounds like a reasonable age to me. Yeah, but getting rid of it completely and Having businesses shut down and communities that have came together, and agriculture and farmers that have invested so much money into this, and North Carolina is an agricultural industry. A state and. I've seen so many people invest into this. If we don't get it right, it will be done and for no reason.
