Texas Senate Approves Ban On Hemp Products With Any Amount Of THC

Bill Would Ban All Products With Any Amount Of THC

If passed, the legislation would prohibit all consumable hemp products except CBD and CBG formulations with no detectable amount of THC. The legislation would conflict with the federal government’s 2018 legalization of hemp, which permits products with all hemp compounds provided they have no more than 0.3% THC.

The bill also requires consumable hemp products to be registered with the state Department of State Health Services at a fee of $500. Products could only include the cannabinoids CBD and CBG, with no added mood-altering ingredients. Selling unregistered products would be a misdemeanor criminal offense.

Operating a hemp manufacturing or retail business without a permit would be a felony under Senate Bill 3. The measure also adds other criminal offenses to Texas law, including prohibitions on marketing intoxicating hemp products to minors and possession of cannabinoid products other than CBD and CBG with intent to sell.

Legislation Threatens Texas Hemp Businesses

The proposed ban would make thousands of products on Texas store shelves illegal. Opponents of the legislation say it is too restrictive and would decimate the state’s industry, taking thousands of independent businesses with it.

During Senate debate on the measure, Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt told her colleagues that hemp THC products should be addressed through tighter regulation.

“I believe this bill goes too far, in that it would put out of business the consumable hemp industry in Texas,” said Eckhardt, according to a report from the Texas Tribune.

Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, said that lawmakers are conflating marijuana with legal hemp, which must have no more than 0.3% THC under federal law. Acknowledging that bad actors are “operating in the black market, in the shadows,” he argued that the state should improve oversight of the industry to target those manufacturers and sellers instead of enacting complete prohibition.

“We have a common enemy. We know who’s doing wrong,” Bordas said. “We’d both like to eliminate them, but the problem is, the lieutenant governor and Senator Perry are going to eliminate the entire business — including over 7,000 licensed dispensaries.”

“Bans don’t work,” Bordas continued. “All it’s going to do is encourage the bad actors to fill the vacuum.”

Bill’s Sponsor Rejects Regulating Hemp Products With THC

The sponsor of the legislation, however, said that increased regulation would not be effective.

“For those that argue that this should just be more regulation and tax, there’s not enough tax that we can collect that will deal with the behavioral health issues and the addictions that we currently face,” Perry said on the Senate floor, online cannabis news outlet Marijuana Moment reported on Wednesday. “It would be in the billions. It’s unenforceable because every day a new product hits the shelf that was at the whim of a chemist.”

“What they have created and what they’re doing is akin to K2 and Spice and bath salts of the past that we as a legislature voted out of existence as soon as possible,” he continued. “The effect of what this drug is doing to the people that are involved in it—contrary to what you hear—is devastating lives. It’s generational. It is creating psychosis. It’s creating paranoia.”

Before it can become law, Senate Bill 3 must first be approved by the Texas House of Representatives. The measure would then be subject to the approval of Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott, who is expected to sign the legislation.

“We’re all on the same page,” Patrick said, saying that he had spoken about the issue with Abbott and Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows. “We’re going to protect the people of Texas from THC.”