AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate passed a bill on Wednesday to ban the sale of all consumable hemp products with THC. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said banning all consumable THC in Texas is one of his top priorities.
“This is a poison in our public,” Patrick said. “As the Legislature, our No. 1 responsibility is life-and-death issues. That’s why this is Senate Bill 3.”
The products started popping up after Texas approved a farming bill in 2019. House Bill 1325 established the Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 443. It allows for the commerce of consumable hemp products across the state that do not exceed 0.3% delta-9 THC. That law has led to the sale of hemp-derived delta-8 THC and products that contain delta-9 THC at 0.3% of the total weight, which can still be an intoxicating amount at a high ratio.
“This is changing people’s lives in short order because it’s been marketed as something safe and legal, and it’s anything but,” State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), who filed Senate Bill 3, said. “The deception in this industry and what they have created and the lives they have ruined is unacceptable and unnecessary.”
Patrick said in the years since the law passed, more than 8,000 stores have opened that sell products with dangerous levels of THC. Patrick said retailers have exploited the law and started selling products that contain three to four times the THC content that might be found in marijuana purchased from a drug dealer and marketed them to children.
“We’re going to ban your stores before we leave here for good. Whether it’s in May or July or August, whenever session is over,” Patrick said. “We in the Senate, and I believe in the House, will stand together and pass this legislation. My recommendation is if you’re watching, and I know a lot of people are watching from out there who are in this business, you might want to voluntarily close your doors because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come.”
Senate Bill 3 would ban all forms of the psychoactive substance. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the predominant chemical in marijuana that gets people high. Generally speaking, it can be accessed in several forms, from the actual cannabis plant to THC-infused sodas.
“These new variants are being produced almost daily in a lab somewhere, so you can’t keep up with what is legal and what is not,” Allen Police Chief Steve Dye said. “We need a rule that all THC is illegal in these products. That helps us enforce it.”
Patrick and supporters of the bill claim that many of these products are marketed toward children, which is exacerbating psychiatric symptoms in kids and young adults.
“The science is clear: THC can cause psychosis and lead to schizophrenia. It can worsen symptoms of PTSD, increase suicide risk, intensify depression and anxiety, which are two serious health issues Texas children are facing today,” Aubree Adams, the director of Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, said. “Any potential jobs or tax benefits from this predatory industry is overshadowed by the damage their products cause.”
On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Patrick stopped by Happy Cactus, a South Austin store selling CBD and THC products. He wanted to see if children were buying the products. He was carded, just like anyone else who enters the store. Store employees do that to make sure students from the high school across the street don’t enter the store.
Owner Todd Harris said they only sell products with less than 50 milligrams of THC per serving, which is less than the products Patrick is concerned about. The lieutenant governor said he is aware of products that have 750 milligrams of THC per serving.
“Our products are very tailored towards 21+ adults,” Harris said. “We don’t have any products that are tailored to our kids or look like another, like candy or cookie or chips. We just want solid, regulated, tested products that work for adults in Texas.”
Harris said SB 3 would wipe out 90% of their sales. Many CBD products have small amounts of THC, so stores wouldn’t be able to sell them either.
“It would affect, you know, a lot of hardworking Texas families that are creating shops like us that create great products for people that need it,” Harris said.
Critics say rather than an all-out ban, the state could impose age limits or potency caps to regulate the market.
“We need to get rid of the bad actors. Those guys ought to be in jail,” hemp lawyer David Sergi said. “The good actors should be able to make a living, keep their families supported and supply this product to the people who need it.”
Patrick has said the legislation will not impact the state’s Compassionate Use Program and will ensure Texans needing to utilize that program will “have access to safe, doctor-prescribed medication.”
He said he supports another one of Perry’s bills, which would update the state’s medical marijuana program. Senate Bill 1505 would create more satellite dispensing locations, which would make it easier for some people to access medical marijuana.
Patients are not allowed to grow their own cannabis. Only licensed cultivators can grow the plant and only for the production of low-THC cannabis, and patients must purchase products from a licensed dispensing organization.
The bill now heads over to the Texas House, where State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) has introduced a similar bill. That bill would impose stricter oversight and licensing requirements for the hemp industry rather than ban THC altogether. Patrick said he and Speaker Dustin Burrows are on the same page, and he is confident they can get it done this session.
Perry said there is time to come together and resolve those differences. An outright ban on delta-8 and other THC products in Texas failed to pass during the 87th Legislature in 2021 after the provision was stricken from the legislation. Another bill that would have outlawed delta-8 THC also died in the Legislature after an agreement could not be reached on amendments between the Texas House and Senate versions.
SB 12
On Wednesday afternoon, the Texas Senate passed or gave initial approval to several other priority bills. One of the most notable is Senate Bill 12, which extends the state’s ban on DEI initiatives to more than 1,200 public school districts across Texas.
State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), who authored the bill, is calling it the “Parental Bill of Rights.”
“Senate Bill 12 is about affirming what most of us believe to be common sense, preventing political agendas from creeping into the classroom, and ensuring that people who know what’s best for our kids, specifically their parents, have the strongest voice in their child’s education as it should be,” Sen. Creighton said.
The bill reiterates that parents have control over moral and religious teachings, educational decisions and what medical treatment their children can and cannot receive.
It also bans K-12 schools from using DEI as a factor in hiring or employment decisions. It prevents schools from developing policies, programs or training that reference race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.
“The spirit of equal opportunity for all is consistent with Martin Luther King’s teachings,” Sen. Creighton said. “I believe DEI, even though the words themselves are incredibly important, the actual consequences of the actions taken by this effort is not achieving unity, equal opportunity and bringing us together.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has said he does not want taxpayer dollars used to fund DEI in K-12 schools.
The bill bans the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation, bans school clubs based on sexual orientation and creates an avenue for parents to file complaints about violations. It would require districts to create policies for disciplining employees who engage in or assign DEI-related tasks to others.
During the senate debate, several lawmakers, including State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), said they worry the bill will hurt underrepresented groups like Black and LGBTQ students.
“Race has always been a factor. Discrimination has always been present. You can see my reluctance,” West said. “I don’t question your heart, but you’ve got to understand that we’ve got to look at this from a historical perspective.”
The bill does not prohibit teachers from teaching about history or “acknowledging or teaching the significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months.”
West noted he now sees more diversity on television, in commercials and in leadership roles than ever.
“I’ve seen more diversity now than I’ve ever seen, and I see more push to do away with diversity, and bills like this,” West said. “As you said, this is serving as a model for the country, but we’re moving towards a more diverse country right now, and you can see it heading still. We have bills like this. It seems to be trying to push back on that. And I hear people always saying, ‘I ain’t going back,’ and therein lies my trepidation.”
The push to ban DEI in K-12 schools expands on state lawmakers’ actions in the 2023 legislative session.
During that session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, which forced publicly funded colleges and universities across Texas to shut down DEI programs, initiatives or training. It also requires public institutions to limit the mention of DEI and support for DEI initiatives and eliminate diversity-related positions or conditions for employment or admission related to DEI. The law went into effect at the start of 2024.
SB 13
Lawmakers also gave initial approval to Senate Bill 13, authored by State Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney). SB 13 deals with explicit or inappropriate content in library books. It would allow parents to review materials at their child’s school and create a list of items that cannot be checked out or used by that child. It would also require school libraries to allow parents to obtain a written list of books and other items their child has checked out.
Under SB 13, libraries would be held to the same standards the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) applies to what is acceptable on television between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children could reasonably be watching.
It would create local school advisory councils to “assist the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in each school library catalog.” The district’s board of trustees would appoint the council’s members. Most of the members would be parents of district students but not district employees. The council can have non-voting members who are teachers or librarians employed by the district, district students, businesses or clergy.
SB 17
The Senate gave initial approval to Senate Bill 17, which would restrict who can own land in Texas. The bill would block people from nations that “pose national security threats” from purchasing land in Texas.
Supporters argue this is a matter of national security and protecting natural resources, but critics say SB 17 creates a slippery slope and could impact Texans of color. SB 17 would restrict people or entities from countries designated as national security threats from buying property in Texas. It would apply to governmental entities and organizations headquartered in or directly tied to those countries.
The ban applies to countries based on the designations from the director of National Intelligence. The latest annual threat assessment lists China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as countries “engaging in competitive behavior that directly threatens U.S. national security.”
People and companies from countries on that list for three straight years would be banned.
The bill does not prevent foreign business investment in the state. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and dual citizens are not affected. There are exemptions for homes owned by individuals fleeing hostile regimes.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office would be in charge of enforcing the law if it passes.
“It is common sense and good state policy to prohibit our foreign adversaries from purchasing Texas land,” Patrick said in a statement. “Preventing private property from being sold to entities from adversarial nations is a basic tenet of national security. Many Texans have been increasingly concerned by this growing practice over the last few years.”
The Texas Senate also advanced Senate Bill 15, which allows townhomes and starter homes to be built in new neighborhoods in cities with a population of greater than 150,000 in counties with a population of 300,000 or more. The bill by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) prohibits city-mandated minimum lot sizes greater than 1,400 square feet for new neighborhoods.
Senators still need to pass bills given initial approval another time before they go to the House. The bills that are fully passed go to the House right away.
