A new Texas law would protect customers who buy hemp-based products legally but receive marijuana instead.

In advance of Texas’ special legislative session, which will start next week. A lawmaker filed a prefiled bill protecting consumers who thought they bought a hemp-based product that contained a high amount of THC. This would make it marijuana.

Nicole Collier’s (D) HB 42 proposal would prohibit criminalization for anyone found with a hemp-based product, but which is later determined to be contaminated by “a controlled substance, or marijuana.”

For the purchaser to be entitled to legal protection the hemp-based product must have been bought “from an authorized retailer that the buyer reasonably believed to be authorised to sell consumable hemp products.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican from Texas, vetoed legislation that would’ve banned hemp products on the state level if they contained any trace of THC.

The governor has signaled his desire for lawmakers to revisit the topic. Last week, he announced two hemp-related items on the agenda of a special session that will begin Monday. He reiterated his objection to the enactment of a blanket prohibition against hemp products which he described as “a lawful commodity.”

The agenda item “Protect children from THC” calls for legislation that “makes it illegal to give hemp-derived products under the age of 21 to children.”

Under the title “regulate products derived from hemp”, another request is made for a “measure to comprehensively regulate products derived from hemp, including limiting their potency, restricting synthetically modified compounds and setting up enforcement mechanisms without prohibiting a legal agricultural product.”

The two items are among 18 that Abbott included in a proclamation last week announcing the agenda for the special lawmaking session.

Collier’s new bill, HB42 does not address these two issues on their own. However, it is consistent with the comments made by the Governor that, rather than banning hemp consumable products outright lawmakers should create a regulatory structure that treats cannabinoids’similarly to how alcohol is regulated.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), meanwhile—who backed SB 3, the measure that would have outlawed nearly all hemp-derived products—has explicitly accused the governor of wanting to legalize adult-use cannabis because he rejected the hemp legislation.

Hemp advocates and stakeholders had delivered more than 100,000 petition signatures asking Abbott to veto the measure. Critics of the bill argued that the industry—which employs an estimated 53,000 people—would be decimated if the measure became law.

Texas legislators approved the sale of hemp-based products in 2019. This was after the Farm Bill 2018 passed by the federal government, which had legalized this plant across the country. That led to an explosion of products—including edibles, drinks, vape products and cured flower—now sold by an estimated 8,000 retailers.

Military veterans advocates, including Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, also called on the governor to veto the hemp ban, saying it “would cause irreversible harm to communities across the state.”

Farmers said the prohibition would devastate a key sector of the state’s agriculture industry.

Following his veto, Abbott proposed an extensive list of policy changes that he said he would support—and which the legislature will have the chance to enact during the special session.

Both sides of the Senate Bill 3 discussion raise grave concerns. But one thing is clear—to ensure the highest level of safety for minors, as well as for adults, who obtain a product more dangerous than what they expected, Texas must strongly regulate hemp, and it must do so immediately,Abbott said.

His veto included a concern about the possibility of litigation over what he called “valid constitutional questions” which he believed would be upheld in court. Before the governor’s decision, multiple top Texas hemp firms had already sued to challenge the law.

Abbott stated in his message of veto that “if I allowed Senate Bill 3 become law, it would take years to enforce, and existing abuses will remain unaddressed.” Texas cannot wait.

The governor stated that the state should not risk having its law suspended or delayed indefinitely. Instead, it “must adopt a regulatory structure which protects the public’s safety and is aligned with federal law. It must also have a fully-funded enforcement system, so the framework can be implemented immediately.”

The Governor’s full recommendation on hemp regulation is listed in the veto letter:

• A crime must be committed if a THC 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.
• It must also be re-sealable, child-resistant and contain a tamper proof seal.
• The packaging, marketing, and design of products must be aimed at adults.
• 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, as well as for plants and their derivative products such that they are consumables or not, must include testing.
• Food safety regulations and permits are required for all manufacturing and processing plants.
• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in conjunction with other state agencies must charge sufficient fees for permits and registrations to fund robust testing and enforcement.
• A warning/danger sign and an operator’s license must be displayed at all stores selling such products.
• The hours of sale must not exceed 10:00 am and 9:00 pm. Sales on Sundays are prohibited.
• Each product’s THC content must be limited, and an individual can only make a certain number of purchases within a specified time period.
• The labels must contain a warning in the style of a surgeon-general, an explanation of each ingredient, including its THC level, as well as a barcode that can be scanned or a QR code which links to results.
• The felony crime of fraudulently creating, displaying or using lab results or manifests must punishable.
• Consumption in public, on store premises, and the possession of an opened container within a vehicle are all crimes.
• Deceptive Trade Practices Act violations must be prosecuted by the Attorney General and district attorneys.
• Local governments can choose to limit or ban the sale of these products.
• To fund the oversight and enforcement of these laws, excise taxes on these products are required.
• It is essential that additional funding be allocated to law enforcement to enable them to enforce the restrictions with vigor.

The list below is certainly not comprehensive. But it may provide items to consider in a regulatory system that is strict, fair, and legally sustainable,” Abbott said. The act of passing legislation is different from actually solving a particular problem. Texas urgently needs legislation that can be implemented and makes our communities safer right now rather than in years. The Legislature has the chance to tackle this important issue next month. “I look forward to working together to make sure that we do it right.”

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Meanwhile, a recent survey from a GOP pollster affiliated with President Donald Trump showed that Texas Democratic and Republican voters are unified in their opposition to the hemp ban bill.

Another poll commissioned the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC) found that Texas Republican primary voters oppose the proposal.

Last month, the governor signed bill to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program with new qualifying conditions additional product forms and more dispensary locations.

Abbott separately signed a bill into law to create a state-backed research consortium to conduct clinical trials on ibogaine as a possible treatment for substance use disorders and other mental health conditions. Project’s ultimate goal is to turn the psychedelic drug into a prescribed medication with FDA approval and the state keeping a share of profits.

In addition to chronic pain, TBI and Crohn’s disease, the measure also allows hospice or palliative patients to use cannabis.

Separately in Texas, a House committee approved a Senate-passed bill in May that would prohibit cities from putting any citizen initiative on local ballots that would decriminalize marijuana or other controlled substances—as several localities have already done despite lawsuits from the state attorney general.

Under the proposal, state law would be amended to say that local entities “may not place an item on a ballot, including a municipal charter or charter amendment, that would provide that the local entity will not fully enforce” state drug laws.

While several courts have previously upheld local cannabis decriminalization laws, an appellate court comprised of three conservative justices appointed by the governor has recently pushed back against two of those rulings, siding with the state in its legal challenge to the marijuana policy in Austin and San Marcos.

Despite the ongoing litigation and advancement of the House and Senate bills, Texas activists have their targets set on yet another city, Kyle, where they hope put an initiative before voters to enact local marijuana reform at the ballot this coming November.

A recent poll found that four in five Texas voters want to see marijuana legalized in some form, and most also want to see regulations around cannabis relaxed.