The Texas Senate has now formally pass a bill that would outlaw consumable hemp products with any detectable amount of THC—even as the governor, who recently vetoed similar legislation during the regular session, continues to call for the state to regulate rather than ban the products outright.
Senators voted 21–8 to approve SB 5, from Sen. Charles Perry (R), on third reading Friday, two days after advancing the measure on second reading. After the Senate’s approval, the proposal moves to the House. A companion bill, HB 5, has been submitted as part of a special legislative session.
I’m not criminalizing anything. Perry stated that “this is already illegal” before the Senate final vote. Perry argued the hemp industry was using a loophole it created in order to sell intoxicating items. Since the 1930s, pot has been banned in this country. Today, it is illegal. “I’m not going to criminalize anything that isn’t already illegal.”
Others argued it’s better to have regulations in place than prohibitions.
Nathan Johnson, a Democratic Senator from Texas said: “I do not think that a ban would be the best solution.” The ban of hemp-derived THC is criminalizing an activity that thousands upon thousands of Texans use recreationally.
He said: “We should decriminalize the social recreational usage of marijuana by those who use it and regulate hemp to decriminalize its use.” “I think we as a State have the power to regulate hemp.” The revenue generated by the taxation on hemp-derived THC could be used for law enforcement, which is what we need to maintain a proper regulatory system.
Sen. José Menéndez (D) said he appreciated that Perry and supporters of the ban want to “make sure that people, especially children don’t get hurt.”
I am also concerned about your criminalization of the bill. I believe that each arrest, every laboratory test, and every court date caused as a result of the new crimes of this bill will potentially come, to the detriment of focusing attention on other criminals,” he stated.
“Cannabis has been around for thousands of years,” Menéndez pointed out. “It’ll just relocate, go underground, much like alcohol did during Prohibition… I think this bill is going to push back some people back to opioids… We can’t legislate common sense. We can’t legislate morality.”
As lawmakers consider banning consumable hemp products with any detectable amount of cannabinoids aside from CBD and CBG—which Perry has said are demonstrably nonintoxicating—others are calling for the state to instead regulate products with relatively small amounts of THC.
In a Wednesday press conference, a group Democratic state senators, for instance, introduced two bills relating to cannabis, one of which would regulate hemp markets, allowing adult consumers 21 years and older the purchase of hemp products with no more THC than 5mg per serving.
Second new bill will effectively legalize marijuana for adults by eliminating criminal penalties if you have up to 2 ounces on your person or up to 10 in one household, as long as it is hidden and secure. It would be legal to grow up six plants of which only half can be mature.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who vetoed SB 3 – a ban on hemp products – during the regular legislative session of the State this year has also expressed support for limiting the THC content and for prohibiting sales to children rather than banning the product entirely.
Abbott stated in a recent interview with The Texan: “We’re going to ensure that adults have the freedom to access non-intoxicating products made from hemp.” Abbott added, “aslong as [products] “If they contain less than three milligrams THC, then they’re non-intoxicating.”
“I am not for an outright ban,” said he, but he added that he supports restrictions on the use of synthetic cannabinoids as well as youth access to products made from hemp.
“I am, to be clear, in favor of a ban for those under the age of 21,” the governor explained. I am for a complete ban on any synthetics that could be added to the products, making them more hazardous. “I am for a ban on any hemp-based products that reach an intoxication rate, which is greater than three milligrams THC.”
Abbott, as he has in previous interviews about the hemp bill, again provided a confusing explanation on what he believes are acceptable THC levels in hemp. He said that there should either be a cap of “three percent”, or “three milligrams”, which is an important difference.
On the House side, meanwhile, the sponsor of HB 5—which is currently identical to SB 5—has said that he intends the bill’s language to be “a starting point,” suggesting future changes would be made based on feedback to the proposal.
“We will hear many hours of testimony and allow that testimony to inform our future direction and decisions,” Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R), who chairs the House Committee on Public Health—where HB 5 will be first considered—wrote in a recent letter to the panel’s other members.
Under the current proposal, consumable hemp products with any amount of THC—or any other cannabinoid besides CBD and CBG—would be illegal. The mere act of possession could be punished as a misdemeanor Class B, punishable by up to 180-days in prison and $2,000 fine.
Some advocates are hopeful that either SB 5 or its House counterpart could see revisions as they make their way through the legislative process—either to affirmatively regulate the hemp market or to at least ease some of the criminal penalties on individuals found in possession of the affected products.
Heather Fazio of Texas Cannabis Policy Center, the group’s director, encouraged supporters to contact their elected officials and ask for change.
She wrote: “It’s my hope,” that HB 5 be reworked in order to regulate THC, and remove criminal penalties for possessing it.
(Disclosure: Fazio supports MEDCAN24’s work via a monthly Patreon pledge.)
Many policymakers are advancing the legislation to ban marijuana. Notably, Abbott signed into law a bill in June that added chronic pain, traumatic head injury (TBI), Crohn’s disease, and other inflammatory intestinal diseases. It also allowed end-of life patients receiving palliative care or hospice treatment the option of using cannabis.
SB 5 and companion HB 5 are 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.
HB 160, introduced by Rep. Charlene Johnson (D), and SB 39, proposed by 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 would, on the other hand, prohibit packaging or marketing hemp products “in a way that appeals to children.” This includes packaging in shapes such as humans, fruits, animals, cartoons, or any “other form that’s attractive to minors,” as well packaging similar to products that are already sold to children. This bill also bans misleading packaging. Infractions are punishable as a class A misdemeanor and can result in up to 12 months of jail time or a fine of $4,000
Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat, introduced a separate bill (HB 42) to shield consumers from being charged with criminal offenses if they were to discover that a hemp product labeled as legal contained excessive levels of THC and was therefore illegal marijuana. This bill prevents criminalization for anyone found with a hemp product but later determined 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.”
Another bill—HB 195, introduced by Rep. Jessica González (D)—would legalize marijuana for people 21 and older, allowing possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis, with no more than 15 grams of that amount being in concentrated form.
A third proposal requires state officials conduct an intoxication test for THC.
As to what Texans want from their representatives: proponents who are trying to rein in the largely illegal intoxicating hemp business in Texas have shared polling results showing that most respondents, from both major political parties, support the outlawing of synthetic cannabinoids like delta-8 THC.
According to the survey, respondents prefer buying therapeutic cannabis through state-licensed programs for medical marijuana than from “smoking shops selling unregulated hemp.”
Ahead of the governor’s veto last month of SB 3—the earlier hemp product ban—advocates and stakeholders had delivered more than 100,000 petition signatures asking Abbott to reject the measure. Critics argued that the industry—which employs an estimated 53,000 people—would be decimated if the measure became law.