Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is sponsoring a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would ban all forms of psychoactive substances.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he wants to ban all THC consumed in the state and plans to sponsor a bill in the next legislative session that would ban all forms of the psychoactive substance. There is.
State lawmakers have not yet filed what is expected to be Senate Bill 3. But while the specific language has not yet been released, there are already concerns about what this means for Texas’ growing multibillion-dollar cannabis industry.
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main chemical in marijuana that gets people high. It’s accessible in several forms, from the actual cannabis plant to THC-infused soda.
Steve Marengo, director of operations for Pinnacle Essentials, said a complete ban would mean the end of business. Approximately 90% of the products they carry contain THC.
“It’s going to pretty much disappear or drop to the point where it’s not a sustainable business model,” Marengo said.
Demand is emerging for cannabis-derived products such as beverages, gummies, and topical ointments.
House Bill 1325, passed in 2019, established Chapter 443 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. This would allow the statewide sale of consumable hemp products with a Delta-9 THC content of no more than 0.3%. This law allows for the sale of hemp-derived delta-8 THC and products containing 0.3% delta-9 THC by total weight, which may still be a highly intoxicating amount. There is.
But Lieutenant Governor Patrick said thousands of cannabis stores have opened across the state in recent years. He alleges that retailers have taken advantage of the law and begun selling products containing three to four times the THC content that can be found in marijuana purchased from drug dealers and sold to children. I am doing it.
Marengo said: “When you have a business like ours that prides itself on being ethical, 100% compliant with the law and creating a positive environment for our customers, it’s very rewarding. It’s going to be frustrating.” “It feels like the industry is being singled out by the bad guys, and that’s not our job.”
Critics cite issues with product access, regulation and labeling. In recent years, products have come to be distributed in various forms.
Cannabis lawyer Michelle Donovan said there are ways to address this and crack down on it without outright prohibition.
“We have to balance the economy with the threat of harm to the public. We have stricter procedures in place. Avoid using “kid-friendly” labels that include food flavors. Strawberries or grapes,” Donovan said. “There are warnings there that it needs to be taken by people over a certain age, and then the product itself needs to be tested.”
Marengo said he supports age and dose limits and believes it is a better way to address the underlying issues and concerns. He says his store doesn’t sell to anyone under 21.
“We don’t sell to kids. We don’t market to kids,” Marengo said. “If you are looking for products in our store, we will tell you that they are not intended for children, and we firmly oppose that.”
Donovan said that without a more regulatory and compliance-based approach, the hemp industry will be hampered.
“It’s like saying, ‘Alcohol is legal, but from now on we’re going to completely ban it in our state. You can’t sell it, you can’t consume it, you can’t have anything that has anything to do with alcohol.’ It’s alcohol,” Donovan said. “If this bill passes, this is what will happen.”
Andrea Wimberly, founder of the Texas Cannabis Coalition, said banning THC products won’t make them safer.
“I know Lieutenant Governor Patrick says he’s doing it for consumer safety, but he’s doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing because he’s doing it now. “Because by banning it, you’re just feeding it directly into the government’s black market, which means there’s no regulation at all, and that’s very dangerous,” Wimberly said.
That’s also Marengo’s fear.
“I think about the veterans who no longer have access to these products and who go out into the streets and buy bags of marijuana laced with fentanyl,” he said. “Now we have a dead father, a dead soldier, a dead mother or a dead son.”
Some worry that the bill would limit access to these products for therapeutic purposes. Marengo said the main purpose of her store is to help people through a healthy model. Customers use the products for purposes such as sleep issues, anxiety, pain relief, and in some cases behavioral issues.
“Without a doubt, it’s going to have a negative impact on the veteran community. The number of veterans that come into our stores every day is immeasurable. They’re able to deal with PTSD, they’re able to deal with anxiety and fear as well. “As far as injuries, definitely my immediate concern is the veteran community,” he said. “I’m also very concerned about the elderly. We have a lot of elderly clients who come to us and they’re looking for lifelong pain, chronic pain relief. You know, we just have to come and say we need change.”
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), would ban these products. Perry did not respond to KVUE’s request for an interview or comment Thursday.
Back in May, the latest Texas Lyceum Poll showed that 60% of Texans surveyed supported legalizing marijuana. While 31% did not support legalization, nearly half said they supported decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, making it punishable by court appearances or fines.
“If he wants to fix this and make it better, I think he should go all out and legalize it. Then Texas will have a huge industry that could be really big,” Wimberly said. he said. “All that money can go to different industries like healthcare, schools, etc. It can all be circulated to support the community.”
Patrick said he believed the bill would have “broad bipartisan support” in the Senate and encouraged it to pass in the House. He also clarified that the bill would not affect the state’s compassionate use program and would ensure that Texans who need to take advantage of the program “have access to safe physician-prescribed medications.”
Patients are not allowed to grow their own cannabis. Only licensed growers may grow plants for the sole purpose of producing low-THC cannabis, and patients must purchase product from a licensed dispensary.
Wimberly, a patient in the Compassionate Use Program, said she appreciates the variety available.
“Gummies exist because not everyone can smoke. So many patients have debilitating conditions where they can’t tolerate inhaling smoke…so there’s another way to take the product. We need it,” Wimberly said.
A complete ban on Delta-8 and other THC products in Texas was not passed in the 87th Legislature in 2021 because this provision was removed from the law. Another bill that would have outlawed delta-8 THC also died in Congress after the Texas House and Senate could not reach agreement on amendments.
In committee testimony on the bill, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said it believes “Delta-8 remains on Texas’ Schedule 1 drug schedule,” meaning it is already illegal in the state. The question arose as to whether there was.
DSHS can take enforcement actions against hemp licensees that sell consumable hemp products that contain controlled substances. However, DSHS does not regulate possession.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller appears to disagree with Patrick about the future of THC in the Lone Star State. In his post, he suggested that not all Republicans are on board.
Marengo hopes lawmakers will accept a compromise and consider scaling back the proposal.
“At the end of the day, Texas is at risk of losing a $1 billion-a-year industry,” Marengo said. “Our businesses pay a lot of taxes to local governments, so we’re going to lose that. So it could be a very detrimental economic situation for the state.”
