Texas Governor Greg Abbott explains where he stands in relation to a new push by the Texas Legislature to ban hemp. This week, a Senate panel advanced a proposal which called for a regulated market for low-THC items.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who made headlines after vetoing the controversial hemp THC bill last month, convened an extra session to give legislators a chance to revisit this issue and others. But advocates say a new measure from Sen. Charles Perry (R), SB 5, that cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee on Tuesday would effectively create the same prohibition the governor vetoed—and it’s moving quickly through the process.
When asked about the proposal on Tuesday, Abbott said to FOX 4, “I am in favor of protecting our children’s lives, as well as the freedom of adults.”
“So the structure of what I’m looking for is this, and that is, we must continue to criminalize marijuana in the state of Texas—no change in the marijuana laws,” he said. He said that THC as well as products made from hemp should be banned for children younger than 21. “We don’t want to expose them to that.”
He said that the state should “ban dangerous synthetics that have been laced on hemp products.” The governor added that once these safety measures are put into place “we must have a heavily regulated industry for hemp to allow farmers to produce it. We also need hemp products with a low level of THC that can be sold to adults.”
There’s a noticeable rift between the Governor’s description of his preferences and the Senate’s position.
Abbott provided a confusing description of his tolerance for THC in hemp. He stated that he was comfortable with a cap at “three per cent” or three milligrams, which is an important difference. SB 5, on the other hand, would prohibit products with any quantifiable amount of THC or most other cannabinoids—explicitly exempting CBD and CBG from the ban, but industry stakeholders say that’s logistically unfeasible and would decimate the market.
“To be clear, with regard to adults—again, with minors, no access to it at all. Abbott explained that the non-intoxicating level of hemp would be sold to adults if THC is below three percent. Abbott said that the system will be highly regulated, with checks at every step, including the farmers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. This would ensure that no one involved would have the ability to sell, move, or be involved in hemp-based products that contain more than 3 milligrams.
At the same time we will ensure strict enforcement. “The only way to achieve this goal is to enforce it strongly,” said he. The money to enforce would be raised by all market participants. We would also create a structure similar to the one we use in the alcohol industry that ensures that everyone is held accountable. [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission] “There will be serious criminal penalties for anyone who does not adhere to these standards.”
An interviewer noted that the Lt. Dan Patrick (R), a strong advocate for the vetoed bill banning hemp and who continues to oppose outright prohibition of hemp, thinks the market is just too big to regulate.
Abbott acknowledged that “every law enforcement official I’ve talked to has said the same thing, and that is, they don’t have the resources to regulate it… If they’re measuring the hemp product not based upon the current methodology, 0.3 percent THC, but on the milligram basis, it’s a whole lot easier to be able to measure it.”
Again, that’s not quite what SB 5 would accomplish—and stakeholders are voicing concern about the expedited legislative process that it’s moving through, urging supporters to contact their representatives and ask them to oppose the legislation.
Heather Fazio of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center said that in a Wednesday action alert, “Even though the Senate State Affairs committee unanimously approved SB 5 and advanced the bill to be voted on by the Texas Senate,”
The Senate will meet on Thursday, and she said that “the Senate could vote on SB 5.” She added, however, that “once it reaches the House of Representatives, they are more likely to support regulation.”
(Disclosure: Fazio supports MEDCAN24’s work via a monthly Patreon pledge.)
Separately, the spokesperson of the Governor issued a press release that was largely in line with the description Abbott gave during the interview.
“Governor Abbott was clear in his statement that Texas had to do its best to protect children’s lives while protecting adult liberty. They said that hemp products for children under 21 should be prohibited, along with the full prohibition of dangerous synthetic products. Adults should have access to hemp in non-intoxicating amounts that are heavily regulated. There should also be a strict enforcement law for hemp products with more than 3.0 milligrams of total THC. The Governor and the Legislature will work together to create a framework which meets these goals.
In response to senators’ questions during the Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday, many law enforcement officials said that they were in favor of a total ban on all hemp products with any THC, rather than regulating them. Some later added, however, that they felt the state’s limited medical marijuana program, known as the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), should be expanded to ease access by patients—especially military veterans—who could benefit from therapeutic cannabis.
Notably, Abbott in June signed a bill into law that expanded the state’s list of medical cannabis qualifying conditions, adding chronic pain, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases, while also allowing end-of-life patients in palliative or hospice care to use marijuana.
SB 5 is among a small handful of bills introduced for the new special session to address consumable hemp products.
Other proposals include requiring extensive warning labels on products and limiting how hemp-based products are packaged.
Abbott has specifically asked lawmakers to prioritize hemp regulatory issues during the special session that kicked off on Monday. Two new bills have been introduced by Rep. Charlene Johnson (D), and Sen. Judith Zaffirini.
The former would require a number of warning labels to be carried on hemp products with any more than trace amounts of THC, cautioning that the products can cause “cannabis poisoning that can be life-threatening to children,” harm brain development in youth, increase “risk of mental disorders like psychosis and schizophrenia” and lead to anxiety, depression and substance abuse disorders.
SB 39 prohibits packaging and marketing of hemp products in a “manner attractive to children”. This would include packaging with human, animal, fruit or cartoon shapes, as well as packaging which looks like legal products already being marketed for children. This bill also bans misleading packaging. The violation would result in a misdemeanor of Class A, punishable by up to one year imprisonment and $4,000 fine.
Separately, last week Rep. Nicole Collier (D) introduced a one-page bill, HB 42, designed to protect consumers in the state from criminal charges if what they believed was a legal hemp product turned out to contain excessive amounts of THC, making it illegal marijuana. This bill prevents criminalizing someone who is found with a hemp product but it turns out to have “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 authorized to sell consumable hemp products.”
Last month, the governor said that he would prefer that lawmakers create a framework for cannabinoids that is “similar” to how alcohol products are regulated.
At the hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers said criminalizing possession of marijuana would not begin until a third offence. However, this provision doesn’t appear to be in the current SB 5 version.
Ahead of the governor’s recent veto of SB 3, hemp advocates and stakeholders had delivered more than 100,000 petition signatures asking Abbott to reject 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 lawmakers 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.
“Texans from both sides of the Senate Bill 3 controversy raise serious 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.
He cited the potential for litigation based on “valid constitutional challenges,” which would likely be successful in court, as a part of his reasoning behind the veto. A number of top Texas hemp firms had filed a lawsuit to challenge the legislation in advance before the governor vetoed it.
Abbott’s veto letter stated: “If I allow Senate Bill 3 into law, the enforcement of it would be prohibited for many years. This will leave existing abuses unaddressed.” Texas cannot wait.
Governor said that rather than risking the possible enjoining of the law or its indefinite delay, the state must “enact a framework which will protect the public’s safety, is aligned to federal law and has an enforcement system fully funded, as well as a structure for immediate implementation.”
—
MEDCAN24 tracks hundreds of marijuana, psychedelics, and drug policy legislation in state legislatures this year. Patreon members who pledge at least $25/month gain access to interactive maps, charts, and hearing schedules so that they do not miss anything.
Discover more about the marijuana bills tracker. Become a patron on Patreon for access.
—
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.
This measure allows patients receiving palliative care or hospice to be treated with marijuana. It also expands the list of qualifying medical conditions for cannabis to include Crohn’s, TBI, chronic pain and inflammatory bowel disease.
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.
Brendan Cleak provided the photo.
MEDCAN24 would not be possible without the support of readers. Please consider making a Patreon monthly pledge if you depend on our cannabis journalism for information.
