“What they’re all screaming about is, ‘We want regulation, but we want it the way we want it.’”
By Jasper Scherer, The Texas Tribune
Six years after Texas lawmakers inadvertently triggered the state’s booming consumable hemp market, one chamber of the Legislature is pushing to close down the trade by barring merchandise that comprise tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
Yet even with the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), the highly effective Texas Senate chief, the proposal to ban THC faces unsure prospects within the House, the place the hemp trade is bullish about getting lawmakers to tighten rules reasonably than quashing most of their merchandise altogether.
In the decrease chamber, efforts to ban THC merchandise have failed to realize traction, and this session no House lawmaker has filed something akin to Senate Bill 3, which might outlaw merchandise containing any quantity of THC. House management has prevented weighing in on the matter, together with Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), who didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Mark Bordas, govt director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, stated his group is “cautiously optimistic” that House lawmakers will forgo a ban and settle for “thoughtful regulations” similar to limiting THC merchandise to Texans 21 and older, requiring tamper-proof packaging and barring gross sales inside a sure distance of faculties. Some have additionally proposed tighter and extra constant testing necessities to make sure hemp merchandise don’t comprise extreme ranges of THC.
“We think at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail,” Bordas stated. “We hope the Legislature will recognize that there are more than 50,000 jobs and lots of small businesses at stake, people’s livelihoods as well as lives. People that have problems with alcohol or opioid addiction have turned to hemp so that they can be functional members of society again.”
Thousands of hashish dispensaries have popped up throughout Texas since 2019, when the GOP-controlled Legislature licensed the sale of consumable hemp. That regulation, handed one yr after hemp was legalized nationwide, was supposed to spice up Texas agriculture by permitting the commercialization of hemp containing hint quantities of non-intoxicating delta-9 THC, the psychoactive aspect in marijuana.
What ensued was a proliferation of hemp merchandise, starting from gummies and drinks to vapes and flower buds, that may now be purchased at greater than 8,300 places across the state, from dispensaries to comfort shops. The merchandise aren’t allowed to comprise greater than a 0.3 % focus of THC; something larger is classed as marijuana, which stays unlawful in Texas other than restricted medical use. Still, the hemp-derived merchandise look, style and typically have intoxicating results just like their stronger sibling. (Hemp and marijuana vegetation are each hashish vegetation; the distinction lies of their THC ranges.)
Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 hemp legalization invoice, says lawmakers didn’t intend to permit for such an explosion of consumable merchandise. His newest proposal, SB 3, would make it unlawful to own or manufacture merchandise containing THC exterior the state’s medical marijuana program. Violators would withstand a yr in jail for possessing such merchandise and a pair of to 10 years in jail for manufacturing them beneath Perry’s invoice, which is amongst Patrick’s high priorities this session.
At a listening to on SB 3 this week, Perry blasted the hemp trade, saying that that they had “exploited” the 2019 regulation he helped go “to the point that it has endangered public health” with dangerously excessive THC concentrations.
“From a credibility perspective, the current industry providers—and there are several that are controllers of this industry—have shown not to be trustworthy,” Perry stated. “And now what they’re all screaming about is, ‘We want regulation, but we want it the way we want it.’”
It is now time, Perry stated, to “get the genie back in the bottle.”
Not everyone seems to be on board with the concept. Critics say the ban would successfully get rid of Texas’s hemp trade and its roughly 50,000 jobs, together with tax income from the $8 billion it generates yearly, by one estimate. And as an alternative of fixing public well being considerations, critics argue, a ban would make issues worse by forcing customers into an unregulated black market, selling simpler entry to much more potent merchandise.
“You don’t cure alcoholism by banning light beer,” Bordas stated. “Hemp is the light beer of cannabis offerings. If Texas has a THC problem, doesn’t it stand to reason that the source of that THC problem is the high-potency marijuana with higher concentrations of THC?”
Supporters of Perry’s invoice say these excessive THC ranges are already present in retail merchandise that purport to be beneath the authorized restrict. Steve Dye, chief of the Allen Police Department in north Texas, stated latest undercover operations in his metropolis discovered THC concentrations “that tested up to 78 percent” in some merchandise—effectively above the 0.3 % threshold. (The supervisor of 1 store raided by Allen authorities has filed a lawsuit difficult the legitimacy of the search warrants and lab checks.)
“Labels on many products do not reflect the actual level of THC inside the packaging, which is leading to accidental intoxications, overdoses and increased addiction for these psychoactive products, particularly to our youth,” Dye informed Senate lawmakers at Monday’s listening to on SB 3.
For now, state and federal regulation locations no age limits and free and inconsistent testing necessities on Texas’s hemp trade. While SB 3 would ban THC merchandise, it could proceed to permit non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabidiol, generally known as CBD. And it could place firmer restrictions on these merchandise—alongside the traces of what hemp trade leaders suggest for THC consumables, together with barring gross sales or advertising and marketing to minors beneath 21 and requiring “tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable” product packaging.
Throughout the several-hour listening to, scores of individuals urged senators to impose tighter rules to rein in excessive THC ranges, reasonably than banning the merchandise. Law enforcement cleared the Senate gallery after a number of outbursts from attendees cheering on witnesses who criticized the invoice.
Senate gallery cleared after a number of outbursts (applause) in opposition to SB3 pic.twitter.com/nqRK3yX5ZX
— Texas Cannabis Collective (@txcannaco) March 3, 2025
Kevin Hale, legislative coordinator for the Texas Libertarian Party, stated Perry’s invoice quantities to “blatant government overreach” and “pulls the rug out from under” hemp enterprise homeowners who spent the final six years “investing in storefronts, payrolls, marketing and supply chains.”
“These products are in demand by your constituents. They are not dangerous,” Hale stated. “Libertarians believe in a free and open, transparent market. This bill does the opposite, pushing consumers and suppliers back into the black market, where the labels and ethics are unchecked.”
Some sufferers and medical doctors say the THC in hashish can be utilized successfully to fight ache, despair, nervousness, urge for food issues and nausea. Under the state’s Compassionate Use Program (CUP), lawmakers have allowed some Texans to make use of medical marijuana to deal with conditions that include epilepsy, seizures, autism, most cancers and post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD).
Though some veterans use the medical marijuana program for PTSD and different circumstances, a variety of veterans teams oppose Perry’s invoice, with some telling the Senate committee Monday that they like to make use of the extra inexpensive and accessible THC merchandise discovered at on a regular basis retailers.
But David Bass, an Army veteran who based a gaggle known as Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, stated it could be costly to correctly regulate the hemp trade. He urged lawmakers to assist SB 3 and concentrate on increasing the state’s Compassionate Use Program.
“I do not want our veterans using these hemp derivatives,” Bass stated. “The reason is, they have no idea what they are taking and they are not using these products under the care of a physician.”
Under Texas’s Compassionate Use Program, Bass stated, “we know exactly the origin and formulation of our meds. [The Department of Public Safety] inspects and certifies CUP meds, and we use CUP meds under the care of our doctors.”
As issues stand, nevertheless, the hemp industry has “overwhelming advantages” over the state program, stated Jervonne Singletary, senior director of presidency relations at Goodblend, considered one of three medical marijuana suppliers in Texas. For one, she stated, sufferers have to leap by so many hoops to put and obtain orders that some could choose to easily decide up THC merchandise from the fuel station across the nook.
“Right now, hemp businesses can really locate anywhere throughout the state that they want. They can be next door to your child’s school,” Singletary stated. “Most liquor stores can’t do that, we certainly can’t do that, and we think it only makes sense to bring them in line.”
Another Perry invoice, SB 1505, would take intention on the challenge by permitting medical marijuana suppliers to function satellite tv for pc storage services designed to make it simpler for sufferers to entry their prescriptions. The invoice would additionally double the cap on licensed medical marijuana dispensers, to 6 from three.
This article initially appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/05/texas-thc-ban-hemp-senate-bill/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and interesting Texans on state politics and coverage. Learn extra at texastribune.org.
Marijuana Moment is made potential with assist from readers. If you depend on our hashish advocacy journalism to remain knowledgeable, please take into account a month-to-month Patreon pledge.
