Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick listed legislation that aims to ban all consumable products containing any form of THC as one of his top 25 priority bills to push through the Senate this year.
Senate Bill 3, which Patrick first announced in December, would repeal parts of House Bill 1325, which the Texas Legislature passed in 2019 to authorize the commercial production, manufacturing, retail sale and inspection of industrial hemp crops and products following the federal legalization of hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill.
While H.B. 1325 was agricultural-related legislation, Patrick and other Texas conservatives argue its unintended consequences have since led to a multibillion-dollar market for finished products with intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Since 2023, “thousands” of retail facilities selling “hazardous” products with THC have proliferated communities throughout the Lone Star State, according to the lieutenant governor.
“Dangerously, retailers exploited the agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of THC to the public and made them easily accessible,” Patrick said in a public statement. “These stores not only sold to adults, but they targeted Texas children and exposed them to dangerous levels of THC.”
Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, will carry S.B. 3; however, the legislation had yet to be officially filed when Patrick released the list of his top 25 priority bills on Jan. 29. The only bills listed ahead of the THC ban were the state’s budget (S.B. 1) and a school choice voucher proposal (S.B. 2).
Patrick, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2015, sits atop the Senate’s leadership positions as the chamber’s president. Although Texas senators file thousands of bills each legislative session, lower-numbered bills represent a higher probability of passage.
“These bills represent the will of the conservative majority of Texans, and many will pass with bipartisan support,” Patrick said on Wednesday. The lieutenant governor also said that while he anticipates broad bipartisan support for S.B. 3 in the Senate, he can only “trust the House will also see the danger of these products.”
As Texas’ medical cannabis law limits physicians to prescribing low-THC cannabis or cannabis derivatives capped at 1% THC under the state’s Compassionate Use Program—one of the most restrictive programs in the country—hemp-derived products containing delta-8 or delta-9 THC have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Patrick accused retailers that sell hemp-derived cannabinoid products of circumventing the law and putting Texans’ “lives in danger.”
Under the Texas Agriculture Code, hemp is defined as a cannabis plant or its derivatives consisting of less than 0.3% THC by weight, meaning a single gummy that weighs 10 grams can be infused with an intoxicating amount of THC (up to 300 milligrams) and remain under than 0.3% threshold.
“Thanks to loose legal language and generous interpretations of the law, an unregulated market for recreational marijuana has sprung up across Texas,” state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wrote earlier this month.
Miller said he believed the sole purpose of unregulated hemp products containing intoxicating cannabinoids is to “inebriate,” adding that he stands behind Patrick’s push for legislative action.
“I have received a lot of messages asking me to come out against Dan Patrick’s efforts to curtail the unregulated and unsafe market that I have described,” the commissioner wrote. “I will not. That’s not how the law works. The lieutenant governor is right to go after these unregulated and often illegal businesses”
Although Patrick said he could only “trust” House lawmakers would follow the Senate’s lead, Texas state Rep. Jeff Barry, R-Brazoria, said he agrees with the lieutenant governor’s THC ban proposal, Fox 7 reported.
“It kind of goes back to the old adage, ‘Give them an inch; They take a mile,’” Barry told the news outlet. “And never underestimate the creativity of the Texas entrepreneur. So, we just need to, again, kind of rein it in a little bit and understand exactly how these retail operations are truly affecting the kids in our communities and make sure that we can protect them first and foremost.”
Despite concerns from elected officials, some experts and state leaders believe the lieutenant governor’s THC ban would go too far. And those who have built businesses around the status quo have warned lawmakers about the impacts of choosing prohibition over regulation.
Lukas Gilkey, CEO and co-founder of Austin-based Hometown Hero, said in May 2024 that any bans or “excessive legislation” involving hemp-derived cannabinoids would harm an industry that has an $8 billion economic impact, pays $1.6 billion in annual wages and supports more than 50,000 workers.
Gilkey is also a founding member of the Texas Hemp Business Council, a nonprofit trade association focused on advancing and protecting hemp-derived products in the Lone Star State. Gilkey helped found the council, in part, because Patrick had announced that hemp-derived cannabinoids were on his “hit list.”
“Millions of Americans, including an ever-growing number of veterans, many [of] whom live here in our home state, choose these products as part of their daily lifestyles, while others may rely on them as alternatives to marijuana, opioids and other pharmaceuticals,” Gilkey said.
Gilkey’s call for help in preserving the Texas cannabinoid hemp industry came as more than 750 licensed Texan farmers cultivate over 3,000 acres of hemp, helping the sector to create or expand more than 5,000 businesses in the state, according to the council.
Instead of prohibition, the council supports three primary policy positions:
- Age Gating to 21+
- Exemption for veterans and parents giving hemp products to their children
- Child Resistant Packaging
- Exemption for beverages
- Setbacks From Schools
- No adult hemp product sales within 1,000 feet of schools; existing registered businesses would be grandfathered in.
Under S.B. 3, hemp-derived cannabinoid products and all forms of THC would be banned in Texas.
