Texas Governor Greg Abbott reaffirmed that hemp products in the Lone Star State should not be prohibited, but rather regulated.
Abbott submitted a proclamation to the Texas Secretary of state Jane Nelson on 9 July, which included two proposals related to hemp. The announcement called for a special legislature to be convened at noon in Austin on 21 July.
The chief executive outlined 18 pieces of legislation for lawmakers to consider, from improving early warning systems and other preparedness infrastructure in flood-prone areas to revising the state’s congressional redistricting plan—a move that could protect Republicans’ slim majority in the U.S. House come the 2026 midterm election.
Abbott has also demanded that legislation be passed on proposals relating to hemp. The following are some of the ways to get in touch with each other would:
- Provide hemp-derived product to children younger than 21;
- Regulate hemp-derived product comprehensively, i.e., limit potency and synthetically modified compound content, as well as establish enforcement mechanisms. All this without outlawing a legal agricultural product.
Governors have issued the proclamation on July 9, but it is not until now that this has been done. Senate Bill 3 vetoed On June 22, the law was repealed. The bill would have prohibited consumable products made from hemp that contained quantifiable quantities of THC, or any other intoxicating cannabis cannabinoids. The legislation was backed 105 times out of 108 by the GOP controlled state Legislature.
Abbott vetoed S.B. The federal law is violated by S.B.
The governor said, “There are bad actors that have misused the powers granted them both by the federal government as well as the state of Texas.” “But there also are Texans Conducting business responsibly, who invested millions of dollars planting fields or opening up retail stores in reliance on laws making hemp a lawful product to ‘be sold at retail or otherwise introduced into commerce.'”
Abbott is the Texas’ most powerful official, but he could face a showdown against Lt. Governor. Dan Patrick, another Republican who championed S.B. S.B. Patrick claimed that Abbott wanted to “legalize marijuana for recreational use” after his veto.
Patrick: “This fight didn’t have to happen.” The following are some of the ways to get in touch with each other At a 23 June press conference he criticized Governors’ veto.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, vacated a preliminary order on June 24, just two days following Abbott’s veto. This had stopped Arkansas (a neighboring state) from implementing a ban of all hemp-based products that the Governor of Arkansas had signed into law. Sarah Huckabee Sanders had signed the law into effect two years prior.
Patrick used this decision, which didn’t include Texas in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, as leverage against the Governor’s Veto.
Patrick Writer On X, following the Circuit Court decision. We only need to pass S.B. “All we have to do is pass S.B.
The legislative branch, despite the dispute between the governor and the legislature ahead of the session special, will ultimately decide whether hemp is regulated or banned in what had been a Economic Impact of $10.3 Billion Whitney Economics estimates that the state employs about 50,000 employees.
In fact, Texas House Members voted 86 to 53 in favor of aligning their version with S.B. It was decided to align S.B.3 with that of the upper chamber, rather than adopt a committee-substitute bill that Rep. Ken King of Canadian, R, had drafted as chairman of the State Affairs Committee.
Instead of outlawing hemp products, King’s replacement would have strictly regulated them.
The committee substitute for Senate Bill 3 was a compromise to an outright prohibition,” King The following are some of the ways to get in touch with each other On the House Floor, May 21. Some of you want a complete ban. Some of you don’t. That’s why we have the option. Vote on this Amendment [to return the House version to a ban] You decide. I’m voting against the amendment. The reason I’m voting no is because I have read about the 1920s. It’s not going to be any different in 2019. [the] 2020s.”
In the end, the Texas House rejected an alternative state affairs committee bill. They then voted in favor of S.B. The Texas House voted 95-44 to pass S.B. 3 with its prohibitions.
Abbott, as Governor, will have to prove his influence in the special session. King was unable to convince House colleagues to favor regulation instead of prohibition.
Abbott’s veto on June 22, 2012, included a list of “potential” rules for legislators to review:
- A crime must be committed if a THC-containing product is sold or provided to a child.
- Sale of tobacco products must not be allowed near places where children frequent, such as schools, churches and playgrounds.
- The packaging must be child resistant, tamper evident, and resealable.
- It is forbidden to make, package, or market products in an attractive manner for children.
- Retailers who fail to adhere to the rules will be subject to strict fines.
- The products that contain THC cannot also contain any other psychoactive substance (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, or kratom);
- Every phase of manufacturing and production, for plants as well as derivative products and consumables alike, must include testing.
- Food safety regulations and permits must apply to all manufacturing and processing establishments;
- The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission must be able to enforce and test alcohol products in a robust manner, working with state agencies.
- A warning sign and an operator’s license must be displayed at all stores that sell these products.
- Sale of alcohol must only be permitted between the hours 10am and 9pm, except on Sundays;
- Each product’s THC content must be limited, and the number of products that an individual can purchase in any given time frame is also restricted.
- Labels should include the following: a doctor general style warning, full disclosure of ingredients including THC, and an easily scannable QR or barcode linking test results.
- The felony crime of fraudulently creating, displaying or using lab results or manifests must punish fraudulent acts;
- It must be criminalized to consume these products in public, on store premises, or with an open container while driving.
- Attorneys general, district and county attorneys are required to have authority over violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
- Local governments have the right to restrict or prohibit stores from selling such products.
- To fund the oversight and enforcement of these laws, excise taxes on these products are required.
- It is essential that the law enforcement agencies have sufficient funding to enforce all restrictions.
Abbott said that “passing a bill is not the equivalent of solving a real problem.” Texas needs to pass a law that will be enforced and make communities safer Today,“Rather than in years.”