Six years after Texas lawmakers inadvertently triggered the state’s booming consumable hemp market, one chamber of the Legislature is pushing to shut down the industry by barring products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
Yet even with the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful Texas Senate leader, the proposal to ban THC faces uncertain prospects in the House, where the hemp industry is bullish about getting lawmakers to tighten regulations rather than quashing most of their products altogether.
In the lower chamber, efforts to ban THC products have failed to gain traction, and this session no House lawmaker has filed anything akin to Senate Bill 3, which would outlaw products containing any amount of THC. House leadership has avoided weighing in on the matter, including Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, said his group is “cautiously optimistic” that House lawmakers will forgo a ban and accept “thoughtful regulations” such as restricting THC products to Texans 21 and older, requiring tamper-proof packaging, and barring sales within a certain distance of schools. Some have also proposed tighter and more consistent testing requirements to ensure hemp products do not contain excessive levels of THC.
“We think at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail,” Bordas said. “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 cannabis dispensaries have popped up across Texas since 2019, when the GOP-controlled Legislature authorized the sale of consumable hemp. That law, passed one year after hemp was legalized nationwide, was intended to boost Texas agriculture by allowing the commercialization of hemp containing trace amounts of non-intoxicating delta-9 THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana.
What ensued was a proliferation of hemp products, ranging from gummies and beverages to vapes and flower buds, that can now be bought at more than 8,300 locations around the state, from dispensaries to convenience stores. The products are not allowed to contain more than a 0.3% concentration of THC; anything higher is classified as marijuana, which remains illegal in Texas aside from limited medical use. Still, the hemp-derived products look, taste and sometimes have intoxicating effects similar to their more potent sibling. (Hemp and marijuana plants are both cannabis plants; the difference lies in their THC levels.)
Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 hemp legalization bill, says lawmakers did not intend to allow for such an explosion of consumable products. His latest proposal, SB 3, would make it illegal to possess or manufacture products containing THC outside the state’s medical marijuana program. Violators would face up to a year in jail for possessing such products and 2 to 10 years in prison for manufacturing them under Perry’s bill, which is among Patrick’s top priorities this session.
At a hearing on SB 3 this week, Perry blasted the hemp industry, saying that they had “exploited” the 2019 law he helped pass “to the point that it has endangered public health” with dangerously high 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 said. “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 said, to “get the genie back in the bottle.”
Not everyone is on board with the idea. Critics say the ban would effectively eliminate Texas’ hemp industry and its roughly 50,000 jobs, along with tax revenue from the $8 billion it generates annually, by one estimate. And instead of solving public health concerns, critics argue, a ban would make things worse by forcing consumers into an unregulated black market, promoting easier access to even more potent products.
“You don’t cure alcoholism by banning light beer,” Bordas said. “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 bill say those high THC levels are already found in retail products that purport to be under the legal limit. Steve Dye, chief of the Allen Police Department in north Texas, said recent undercover operations in his city found THC concentrations “that tested up to 78%” in some products — well above the 0.3% threshold. (The manager of one shop raided by Allen authorities has filed a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the search warrants and lab tests.)
“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 told Senate lawmakers at Monday’s hearing on SB 3.
For now, state and federal law places no age limits and loose and inconsistent testing requirements on Texas’ hemp industry. While SB 3 would ban THC products, it would continue to allow the non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabidiol known as CBD. And it would place firmer restrictions on those products — along the lines of what hemp industry leaders propose for THC consumables, including barring sales or marketing to minors under 21 and requiring “tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable” product packaging.
Throughout the several-hour hearing, scores of people urged senators to impose tighter regulations to rein in high THC levels, rather than banning the products. Law enforcement cleared the Senate gallery after multiple outbursts from attendees cheering on witnesses who criticized the bill.
Kevin Hale, legislative coordinator for the Texas Libertarian Party, said Perry’s bill amounts to “blatant government overreach” and “pulls the rug out from under” hemp business owners who spent the last six years “investing in storefronts, payrolls, marketing and supply chains.”
“These products are in demand by your constituents. They are not dangerous,” Hale said. “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 patients and doctors say the THC in cannabis can be used effectively to combat pain, depression, anxiety, appetite problems and nausea. Under the state’s Compassionate Use Program, lawmakers have allowed some Texans to use medical marijuana to treat conditions that include epilepsy, seizures, autism, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Though some veterans use the medical marijuana program for PTSD and other conditions, a number of veterans groups oppose Perry’s bill, with some telling the Senate committee Monday that they prefer to use the more affordable and accessible THC products found at everyday retailers.
But David Bass, an Army veteran who founded a group called Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, said it would be expensive to properly regulate the hemp industry. He urged lawmakers to support SB 3 and focus on expanding the state’s Compassionate Use Program.
“I do not want our veterans using these hemp derivatives,” Bass said. “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’ Compassionate Use Program, Bass said, “we know exactly the origin and formulation of our meds. DPS inspects and certifies CUP meds, and we use CUP meds under the care of our doctors.”
As things stand, however, the hemp industry has “overwhelming advantages” over the state program, said Jervonne Singletary, senior director of government relations at Goodblend, one of three medical marijuana providers in Texas. For one, she said, patients have to jump through so many hoops to place and receive orders that some may opt to simply pick up THC products from the gas station around the corner.
“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 said. “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 bill, SB 1505, would take aim at the issue by allowing medical marijuana providers to operate satellite storage facilities designed to make it easier for patients to access their prescriptions. The bill would also double the cap on licensed medical marijuana dispensers, to six from three.
Credit: by By Jasper Scherer, Texas Tribune