Austin, TX
The Austin Chronic – New to the Texas Medical Market: RSO Products and Delicious Chocolate
Sweet relief: Kevin Curtin sampling Texas Original’s new RSO Belgian Dark Chocolate Bites (photos by Kevin Curtin)
Valentine’s Day proved a fitting occasion for multiple medical dispensaries in Austin to roll out new menu items that pair cannabis and chocolate – to which I say: Lower your bow, Cupid; I need no convincing to eat chocolate that gets me high.
In the modern world of edibles, it’s easy to sleep on cocoa confections. After all, for most of us over the age of 30, our first THC-eating experience was likely the ubiquitous “pot brownie” – an earthy-tasting chocolate baked good with inexact dosage (in lieu of milligrams, we simply described them as “strong” or “weak”). Since then, gummies and candies, which are fast-acting and low-calorie, have come to dominate roughly 3/4 of the U.S.’ nearly $10 billion annual edible market, which also includes a growing beverage component. But chewing up a gummy or sipping a THC seltzer doesn’t really feel like you’re treating yourself in the same mouthwatering way that biting into a chunk of decadent chocolate does.
As a patient in Texas’ Compassionate Use program, I procured several new chocolate products this month. Among them, Texas Original’s first medical cannabis chocolate product: Belgian Dark Chocolate Bites. The jar, which costs $70, includes 20 hexagon-shaped chocolates that each contain 10mg of THC. The clerk at the dispensary noted that it takes about 45 minutes to feel the effect, so I ate two of them while at a friend’s birthday party in anticipation of an unanxious night’s sleep a few hours later.
I judge the taste and presentation of edibles by the standard of “would I be satisfied if this was some random non-cannabis snack that I impulsively bought at Trader Joe’s,” and the Belgian Dark Chocolate Bites passed. They are super solid texturally, as dark chocolate is firmer than milk chocolate, so there’s an initial crunch before it softens with a rich depth of flavor. I was starting to feel pretty uplifted as I sang karaoke at the party – a passionate version of Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” if you must know – and, by the time I returned home, I had a body-high so pronounced that I remember telling my cat, “I’m really noticing how my skin feels right now.”
After two hexagon-shaped chocolates, I was restful and relaxed and slept like a baby. Actually, I slept better than a baby, because our actual baby woke me up at 5:20am.
But above all I was restful and relaxed and slept like a baby. Actually, I slept better than a baby, because our actual baby woke me up at 5:20am. This is when I noticed that, seven and a half hours after consumption, I still felt fantastic. I suppose that’s because edibles with significant fat content, while taking longer to hit you, also have more of a long-term effect.
The only thing I regret about the experience was pigging out on a bunch of assorted chocolates from a heart-shaped box left over from V-Day. I guess eating chocolate that gets you high doesn’t preclude you from wanting to eat chocolate while you’re high.
The most intriguing aspect of Texas Original’s chocolates is that they’re the first product in Texas’ medical market that uses RSO. Unlike a lot of three-letter acronyms in cannabis, RSO isn’t a dizzying combination of prefixes and suffixes only discernible to organic chemistry majors, like Resinonia-Smokeadosious-Oxidank or something. It plainly stands for “Rick Simpson Oil.”
If you’re unfamiliar: Rick Simpson is the rare person who discovered a potential medical breakthrough and did not try to monetize it. Instead, he freely taught others how to make it and gave the oils away until Canadian authorities eventually raided and seized his home.
An engineer by trade, Simpson sustained a head injury in 1997 while working at a hospital that left him with debilitating tinnitus and dizziness. When prescription medicine proved ineffective, he found better results using cannabis. Years later, when he developed skin cancer, Simpson crafted a concentrated cannabis oil that he applied to his lesions, and he claimed it cured his cancer. That led to him becoming both an activist and a Johnny Appleseed-like figure for an oil recipe that uses specific solvents and techniques to preserve the whole-plant profile of marijuana with all the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, chlorophyll, and compounds.
Most edibles, tinctures, and vape cartridges use distillate, the process for which removes basically everything except the intended cannabinoid in a high potency. Meanwhile, the complete-spectrum RSO is praised for a theoretical “entourage effect,” where the plant compounds are believed to work together to increase the health benefits of the THC.
Texas Original’s director of marketing, Francesca Neely-Dickey, says that one of the most common requests they’ve gotten from patients is natural, full-plant products.
“They want something strain-specific, they want something full-spectrum, and they want something as natural as possible,” she says, noting the RSO oil is made from the Blue Dream plants Texas Original grows in their Manchaca facility.
Along with the chocolate bites, Texas Original also recently began providing patients with an RSO tincture, which is an extract that users can administer under the tongue with a dropper. Neely-Dickey expects more RSO products to come as the dispensary continues to evolve its menu.
While its anticancer benefits are largely anecdotal and lacking clinical trial data, RSO remains a popular treatment for cancer – which is one of the qualifying conditions of Texas’ medical cannabis program. But Neely-Dickey points out that there are other patient needs that make RSO a good addition to their product line.
“Unlike distillate, which only has the purified cannabinoids in it, RSO gives you more of a balanced effect and it’s a little less intense,” she says. “For some of our patients who are sensitive to THC, the distillate can be too much for them. RSO is more of a product that mimics the effects of smoking flower, so it’s really beneficial for those patients.”
2026 USA Triathlon Cross National Championships Full Results
Austin, Texas | April 18
Off Road/Cross Triathlon National Championship
1500m swim, 29k mountain bike, 10k run
Complete Results
Overall Male Andy Lee, 2:25:17
Overall Female Jennifer Schmidt, 3:08:37
M17-19 Michael Balbin, 3:07:57
M20-24 Ryan Chaudoin 2:39:03
M25-29 Adam Holomoucky, 2:46:30
M30-34 Chase Krivo, 2:41:52
M35-39 Andrzej Stadnik, 2:26:34
F35-39 Kate Hector, 3:44:19
M40-44 Kyle Grieser, 2:30:58
F40-44 Jessica Thiel, 3:31:57
M45-49 Trent Niemeyer, 2:36:28
F45-49 Jennifer Schmidt, 3:08:37
M50-54 Andy Lee, 2:25:17
F50-54 Erin Trail, 4:03:32
M55-59 Stephen Judice, 2:39:58
F55-59 Jeanne Hoffman, 3:25:37
M60-64 Mike Carter, 2:58:35
F60-64 Janet Soule, 3:13:05
M65-69 Cliff Millemann, 3:04:24
F65-69 Maureen Sanderson, 5:01:15
M70-74 Ken Gibson, 3:13:21
M75-79 Alan Moore, 3:50:08
Off Road/Cross Duathlon National Championship
5k run, 29k mountain bike, 10k run
Complete Results
Overall Male Jacob Hull, 2:19:49
Overall Female Tiffany Schwartz, 2:55:45
M30-34 Kyle Dow, 2:27:13
M35-39 Jacob Hull, 2:19:49
F35-39 Tiffany Schwartz, 2:55:45
M40-44 Derek Armer-Derner, 2:51:48
M50-54 Jay Moncel, 3:27:42
F50-54 Heather Anderson, 4:38:10
M55-59 CJ Stafford, 4:57:04
F55-59 Yun Saksena, 4:09:05
M60-64 Robb Reece, 3:24:41
M65-69 Brent Peacock, 2:50:00
M70-74 Mark Lindsey, 4:18:47
Off Road/Cross Triathlon Sprint National Championship
750m swim, 12k mountain bike, 5k run
Complete Results
Overall Male Tavish Quinn, 1:16:29
Overall Female Michelle Lingenfelser, 1:52:31
M14- C. Lockett, 1:35:47
M15-19 Tavish Quinn, 1:16:29
M35-39 Michael Schleckser, 1:50:47
M40-44 Justin Young, 1:45:18
F40-44 Laura Marinaro, 1:59:40
M45-49 Daniel Rossi, 1:24:42
F45-49 Nicole Morgan, 1:54:49
M50-54 Angel Martinez Ineriano, 1:31:35
F50-54 Michelle Lingenfelser, 1:52:31
M55-59 Stephen Schwarze, 1:25:14
M60-64 Curtis Miller, 1:40:54
F60-64 Nancy Hopf, 2:07:36
M65-69 Mark Drangsholt, 1:46:218
F65-69 Gunilla Gard, 2:10:15
M70-74 Steve Cole, 1:36:54
F70-74 Susan Griffin-Kaklikian, 1:57:23
Off Road/Cross Duathlon Sprint National Championship
2.5k run, 12k mountain bike, 5k run
Complete Results
Overall Male Saxby Stradinger 1:09:25
Overall Female Monica Doval, 1:38:49
Overall Clydesdale Trevor Horton, 2:23:56
Clydesdale 0-39 Trevor Horton, 2:23:56
Clydesdale 40-59 Bramer Owens, 1:47:40
M15-19 Callen Quinn, 1:34:58
M30-34 Brian Scheel, 1:43:43
M35-39 Saxby Stradinger 1:09:25
M40-44 Bryce Fluker, 1:11:52
F40-44 Morgan Aldridge, 1:39:23
M45-49 Michael Szermer, 1:34:03
F45-49 Monica Doval, 1:38:49
F50-54 Anonymous, 2:04:11
M55-59 Travis Wales, 1:19:48
F55-59 Lupe Nelson, 2:08:03
M60-64 Steve Smith, 1:14:18
F60-64 Kim Wagner, 2:23:41
M65-69 Joseph Swartz, 1:46:33
F65-69 Christine Knight, 1:57:14
M80-84 Bill Arnerich, 3:30:30
AUSTIN, Texas – This week’s rainfall across Central Texas could help to bring a much-needed boost to the region’s aquifers, which have been operating at dangerously low levels.
The backstory:
On Tuesday, the Austin area saw over an inch of rain while Georgetown received close to six inches, as the San Gabriel River rose over six feet throughout the day.
But the heavy downpour was a welcome sight for Shay Hlavaty, the communications and outreach manager at the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.
Created by the state of Texas in 1987, the District oversees segments of the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers, stretching from South Austin to southern San Marcos.
In total, the portions of the aquifers they oversee provide water to around 100,000 people.
“Groundwater is a significant water source, you know. It’s kind of the unsung hero of Texas,” says Hlavaty.
But over the last few years, the region’s groundwater levels have been in decline.
“Since January 2022, we are missing over a year’s worth of rainfall. So, in the Austin area, we get about 32 to 34 inches a year. And so over that time, we have, you know, a 30-plus inch deficit,” says Hlavaty.
Since October, the District has been under a stage three exceptional drought. Those conditions are determined by two indicators: spring flow at Barton Springs and groundwater levels at the Lovelady Monitor Well.
If either of these locations drops below a drought threshold, the District could declare a more intense drought stage.
By the numbers:
Some of the latest data shows that Barton Springs isn’t performing as it needs to support the ongoing growth of the region.
“To put it into reference, the average since about 1978 at Barton springs is 60 CFS. That’s cubic feet per second. And one cubic foot is about the size of a beach ball, an average beach ball. So, 60 beach balls of water coming out every second from Barton Springs. Before this rainfall, we were closer to 12 CFS, so only 12 beach balls coming out every second, so that’s less than a quarter of average,” says Hlavaty.
That same data also shows that the Lovelady Well is 453.8 feet above mean sea level. That’s only 5 inches above the Stage 4 Emergency Response Threshold.
“This isn’t something that’s going to go away. Even if we busted this drought and get out of it, the next drought is going to be around the corner,” says Hlavaty.
Dig deeper:
But this week’s rain did provide a small boost, helping to prevent the district from potentially falling into a deeper stage of drought.
“So, we’re still in that stage three exceptional level, and this rainfall will help us stay out of that stage four emergency,” Hlavaty told FOX 7. “It’ll help stabilize, if not increase groundwater levels and spring flow.”
The total rainfall for the Austin area in April so far is 4.14 inches, well above the typical total average for the month, which is 2.42 inches. But that sort of above precipitation must continue if there is to be any chance of drought levels decreasing.
“We really need to have above average rainfall for months, if not years, to bust this drought,” says Hlavaty.
What you can do:
As May approaches, which typically brings the most rainfall throughout the year, Hlavaty urges people to cut back on water use when they can, especially watering their lawns, which can consume large amounts of drinking water.
And as Central Texas continues to see a boom in population, combined with hotter than average temperatures for February and March, conservation is as important as ever.
“It’s important to remember that a little bit of rain here, a little bit of rain there, isn’t going to best the drought. So, we all have to do our role to help conserve resources in the meantime,” says Hlavaty.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Marco Bitonel
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