Texas Republicans plan yet another full-court press to in the upcoming legislative session to ban all THC products, the Houston Chronicle reports.
“I’m filing the ban again,” state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said during a hearing at the Texas Capitol last week. “There’s nothing good in this stuff. There’s no virtue in it.”
Perry sponsored a bill last session aimed at shutting down the sale of legal hemp products statewide. However, Gov. Greg Abbott, a fellow Republican, interceded with an executive order limiting the sales of some hemp products but not banning the industry outright.
Last year’s legislative session was marked by a constant tug of war on the right over the state’s burgeoning hemp business, which is worth $8 billion. Republican politicians in favor of the ban found themselves at odds with members of their own party, including Abbott.
These regulations, laid out in a September executive order from Abbott’s office, included lowering the potency of what is available on the market and banning the sale of THC products to minors.
“The Governor’s executive order, intentionally or not, has sent a signal to the THC industry that they have a state seal of approval on the current THC market,” Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said in a statement after Abbott’s opted to regulate the industry the lieutenant governor had crusaded for months to banish.
At last week’s hearing, Perry and other GOP allies said the regulations don’t go far enough to curb an industry they claimed threatens family values, the Chronicle reports. They said Abbott’s rules have no teeth and added that hemp companies are accustomed to flouting the law.
Texas has more than 8,500 retailers selling hemp-derived THC products, including gummies and drinks.
“These are the same people who have been selling dangerous THC products to kids and teens for the last four years in thousands of locations across Texas,” Patrick said in his fall statement about Abbott’s order.
Patrick complained at the time that marijuana is essentially legalized in Texas by the most recent round of regulations.
“The governor has stated he does not want to legalize marijuana in Texas, but testimony from law enforcement and others say that is exactly what will happen,” Patrick added.
During remarks at last week’s hearing, Allen Police Chief Steve Dye, who also serves as secretary of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, echoed Patrick’s sentiments, according to the Chronicle. He argued that the shifting rules have made it impossible for law enforcement to rein in the industry.
“State regulations have not been effective,” he said.
No members of the hemp industry were called to testify on the topic on what amounted to a one-sided hearing against THC and cannabis products, the Chronicle reports.
Perry and other Republican legislators at the hearing alleged the industry is beyond improving with stricter rules.
“So there’s no path to fix this other than getting rid of it,” Perry said.
While Patrick controls the agenda of the Texas Senate, the path of an outright ban in the Texas House looks less clear. Even so, Republicans remain in control of both chambers of the Texas Legislature.
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