Yesterday hearings on two bills which threaten to ‘dismantle’ Texas’s thriving hemp industry ran for a marathon of 18 hours, with the majority of participants testifying against the punitive measures.
In the Texas House Committee on State Affairs Hearing, experts in industry, participants, patients, and veterans testified on House Bill 28 as well as Senate Bill 3.
The Senate passed SB 3 last month with a large majority. This bill seeks to ban the sale of cannabinoids in Texas except CBD and CBG.
The House would ban all forms of THC intoxicants, including Delta 8, Delta 9 as well as drinks, which could decimate an $8bn-a-year industry and affect tens and thousands of job opportunities.
The Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission’s (TABC) HB 28 would be the more moderate of the two proposed measures. It would include many of the same policies, except that hemp-infused beverages are exempted.
On the same day, hundreds of activists from all over the state gave testimony, warning about the serious consequences that the bills could have on the public’s health, economy and freedom.
The overwhelming majority of the testimony at the hearing, from 8am to just before 2am in the morning the following day, was against the bans proposed.
Federal and State Legislative Chairman for the Texas VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), Mitch Fuller, said that SB 3 would ban ‘effective, affordable, and accessible’ alternatives to ‘to the harmful pharmaceutical cocktail of opioids and anti-depressants utilized by thousands of Veterans’.
Senate Bill 3 will eliminate the therapeutic options many Veterans rely on for managing service-connected disorders.
Courtney Holmes is a caregiver and healthcare professional. She said: “As a business owner, founder of a nonprofit, and caregiver for my husband who has young-onset Parkinson’s disease, I have seen the benefits plant-based medicines can bring to your life. Cannabis is not a poison—it’s a safe, natural, God-given tool that can provide real healing when used responsibly.
Austin Zamhariri, Executive Director of the Texas Cannabis Collective, also argued that a blanket ban on hemp would be a ‘tremendous mistake primed with unintended consequences’.
The opportunity for legislators to use common-sense approaches in regulating hemp products is now available. These include age restrictions, testing methods that cover the entire panel, and packaging with child resistant standards. Such an approach is more in line with Texas’s overwhelming majority.
The campaign to ban all THC products has been largely driven by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Senator Charles Perry, who advocates argue have utilized ‘alarmist rhetoric and unfounded claims’ to sway opinion.
Heather Fazio of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center said, “Concerns over semi-synthetic THC could be addressed directly through regulatory enforcement and legalizing natural marijuana.”
Fazio says that a decision could be made on the bills at the next meeting of state affairs, but if there are amendments, then this timeframe could be extended.