Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced this month that he will back a bill to ban all THC products from being sold in Texas. In his announcement, Patrick uses words like “unsafe” and “unregulated” to describe THC products being sold. Despite growing public support, Texas continues its challenges to the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana. On December 5, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced a bill that would ban all forms of consumable tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products, including hemp-derived, nonintoxicating products.
Background
In 2018, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act (2018 Farm Bill), which removed hemp and hemp seeds containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC from the federal schedule of controlled substances, making its cultivation legal. Texas followed suit in June 2019 by amending its own Agriculture Code to allow for the cultivation of hemp meeting federal standards.
The cultivation of hemp skyrocketed across the country following the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. By 2021, the Texas Department of Agriculture reported it approved over 5,000 acres of land for the production of hemp and issued more than 1,000 producer licenses. Nationally, the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid raked in over $1.5 billion in new state tax revenue.
The Bill
Texas Senate Bill 3 would ban all forms of THC. Although the text of Bill 3 is not yet available, a statement released by Governor Patrick’s office claims that retailers across the state “exploited” the amended Agriculture Code to “sell life-threatening, unregulated” products with unlimited amounts of THC. In Texas, the lieutenant governor is a very powerful position, and in that role, Governor Patrick also serves as president of the Texas Senate. If enacted, Bill 3 takes effect on September 1, 2025.
Interestingly, Bill 3 comes on the heels of another legislative effort in Texas involving cannabis. However, Texas Senate Bill 1208 provides for the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana.
Patrick is working with Senator Charles Perry from Lubbock to pass Senate Bill Three, which would ban all THC products that he says has been targeting Texas children and exposes them to dangerous THC levels. Texas House Representative for District 56, Pat Curry, backs up Patrick, saying that they want to close the loopholes that dispensaries use to legally sell different THC, CBD, and hemp products.
According to the Austin Chronicle on December 27, “while Patrick projected “overwhelming support” for the bill, one notable Texas Republican seemed to question the blanket ban of THC. Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller reacted to the legislative initiative on X, stating: “Not everyone is on the same page on this. The GOP needs to find some consensus instead of constantly running in opposite directions. We know what the polls say. It’s time to support the will of Texans.” In a follow-up post, Miller intimated his support for “letting sick folks have medicine.”
Susan Hays, an attorney, political strategist, and cannabis advocate – who coincidentally ran against Sid Miller in the 2022 election – says she was unsurprised by the lieutenant governor’s proposed THC ban.
“I was expecting it,” she tells me. “But I think a lot of the community has had their heads in the sand. There were witnesses at the May and October [Senate Committee on State Affairs] hearings who kept digging their own graves and not understanding the gravity of what is facing the cannabis industry.”
I asked Hays, who supports “a well-regulated cannabis industry with quality products,” to outline possible outcomes for SB 3.
Scenario 1: The House Votes No. “I’m not convinced a total ban bill could even pass the House,” Hays says. “I know Republicans in the House who are opposed to [SB 3] because they’ve heard from people who are using it medicinally and they can’t access TCUP [Texas’ medical cannabis program] or can’t afford it, and it helps these people. If it doesn’t pass the House, nothing changes. The black and gray markets rage on, and the really nasty stuff is still available everywhere.”
Scenario 2: Lawmakers Pass the Bill. “If they get their 76 votes in the House and actually pass the bill, can they really enforce the law effectively? … Take a look at the capacity of the forensic crime labs for testing THC potency. So the outcome is black and gray markets rage on.”
Scenario 3: A Better Bill Emerges. “The Legislature does some serious, thoughtful policymaking, studies what other states have done, and does what I call a ‘middle ground bill’ – a bill that allows true hemp extracts, but bans novel and synthetic, high-dose cannabinoids, then puts some funding into enforcement,” Hays explains. “But that’s only going to work if they vastly expand the TCUP program to meet the demands of consumers who find cannabinoids very helpful for what ails them. That’s the only scenario where the black and gray markets don’t explode.”
Other State Efforts
Many states, including California, Georgia, Oregon, and Wyoming, recently passed or enacted new laws targeting hemp-derived products. Several more states are set to consider similar legislation in 2025.
