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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposed ban on THC would impact all products sold without a prescription — but some experts, including the state’s agriculture commissioner, say enforcing restrictions could be an alternative solution.
In his Senate Bill 3 proposal, Patrick said retailers exploited House Bill 1325 since it was made law in 2019 and alleges children have been exposed to dangerous levels of THC.
“Since 2023, thousands of stores selling hazardous THC products have popped up in communities across the state, and many sell products, including beverages, that have three to four times the THC content which might be found in marijuana purchased from a drug dealer,” Patrick said.
HB 1325 was introduced in Texas following the passing of the federal 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law by then-President Donald Trump, making it legal to grow industrial hemp. The Texas bill not only made it legal to grow industrial hemp — which contains 0.3 percent or less THC, the chemical in marijuana that gets you high — it also allowed for hemp products to be sold in the state.
The purpose of the bill was to promote new commercial businesses for farmers and businesses.
A ban would not have an effect on the state’s agriculture business, said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Because of a shift from interest in CBD oil to industrial hemp, Texas has more growing acres of hemp now than ever before.
“We’re going to grow a lot more hemp than we’ve been growing, but for a different purpose,” he said.
However, a ban on all THC could have a negative impact on businesses selling small amounts ofTHC across the state along with a loss of sales tax revenue.
HB 1325 created a large economy that has only grown in the last five years, said Raji Srinivasan, marketing professor at The University of Texas at Austin. By banning THC, that business would not disappear — it would go underground.
That’s because historically, when something has been banned, people find ways to get it, he said.
“In addition to tax loss implications for the government, I think there may be some sort of consumer welfare implications,” Srinivasan said. “Because then you don’t know if it’s clean, if it’s safe, does it have some other drugs like fentanyl?”
But there are still concerns about THC products falling into the wrong hands.
Although HB 1325 prioritized farmers and business owners, it left out one regulation that applies to alcohol, cigarettes and e-cigarettes: age restrictions.
HB 1325 does not set a minimum age to purchase consumable hemp products in Texas.
“Yeah, we probably should have already done that,” Miller said about age restrictions.
The agriculture commissioner said the state has received reports from parents of second and third-graders getting access to THC products. Pressed for details, Miller said he did not know how many reports there were or in which school districts the alleged incidents occurred, but he said that it would help to have legislative hearings and testimony.
A ban on all THC could move the products to the black market, increasing the risk for children, said Shelby Steuart, a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University Health Services Research Program.
Steuart’s research has focused on cannabis policy and how it impacts patients and the health care system.
She said black market edibles tend to have a higher potency and can be made to look like grocery store candy to enhance appeal.
“That increases the risk for children because it’s harder to tell apart from regular, non-THC candy that you could find at the grocery store,” Steuart said. “Whereas in states where they have legal cannabis, there’s really strict rules about what edibles can look like.”
She added that making THC illegal could increase poisoning risk with patients afraid to report to their doctor or parents worried about child protective services.
“It just creates this sort of underground thing,” Steuart said. “And it may look safer on the surface, but it’s just because less is being reported often.”
Rahi Abouk, director of the Cannabis Research Institute at William Paterson University, said adult use cannabis laws have been successful in curtailing THC access to an underage population.
“The data — so far at least — suggests that we don’t see an upward trend in cannabis use among the underage population, those who are under 21 or 18 years of age, which is good,” Abouk said.
He added that legalization has helped with pain management and reducing opioid related mortality.
Patrick’s THC ban would not include Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, which allows low levels of THC to be prescribed to patients with qualifying conditions. Texas law recognizes nine conditions for CUP, whereas other states allow up to 30, Steuart said.
Additionally, restricting THC only to prescription based can be extremely costly for those without insurance, Steuart said.
“One issue a lot of states face with their compassionate use programs is, the prices in order to participate are very high,” Steuart said. “So you have to see a doctor usually several times, the cash pay for that can be hundreds of dollars per visit.”
Some states also require a fee to both register and participate, however Texas does not.
Restrictions are probably necessary, Miller said, but he added the pros and cons would be weighed in the legislative session, which starts on the second Tuesday of January.
“Nearly everybody has a story about someone in their family or a friend that had PTSD or cancer or glaucoma or something that this product has helped, so we don’t want to make it impossible for people to get the relief they need,” Miller said. “And that’s my concern.”
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
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“}]]Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposed a ban on all non-prescribed THC earlier this month. But business experts and cannabis researchers say restrictions could work instead. Read More
