[[{“value”:”A bill to ban hemp productshas passed the Senate, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is taking his victory in stride, doubling down on his commitment to ban all THC products in Texas.
“This is a poison in our public, and we as the Legislature, our number one responsibility is life and death issues,” Patrick said during a press conference about the hemp ban bill, Senate Bill 3.
The bill passed in a 24-7 vote on March 19 and has made it to the House, where a similar but different bill has yet to be voted on. That bill, House Bill 28, would more strictly regulate the sale of hemp products rather than place a blanket ban on all THC products.
The two chambers would need to reach an agreement before the laws change, but Patrick has reaffirmed that Gov. Greg Abbott and Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows feel similarly about an outright ban on THC, according to the Texas Tribune. Abbott and Burrows have not been outspoken about their current stance on THC products.
“We’re all on the same page,” Patrick said. “We’re going to protect the people of Texas from THC.”
The lieutenant governor has been steadfast in his determination to crack down on intoxicating hemp products, naming it his primary concern ahead of this legislative session. Patrick has been vocal about the misleading packaging on certain products, arguing they target children and have much higher, potentially dangerous, potencies than disclosed.
“I named SB 3 a major legislative initiative of mine because I will not allow retailers to circumvent the law and put Texans’, and especially children’s, lives in danger,” Patrick said in a press release following the successful Senate vote. “These rogue retailers are selling THC products containing several times more THC content than marijuana purchased from a drug dealer off the street. These dangerous products must not be allowed to permeate our communities and endanger Texas children.”
Products with small concentrations of THC were legalized in 2019, and the hemp industry has flourished since. In the same press conference, Patrick held up a map of all stores in Texas selling hemp products. According to him, there are 8,300 businesses selling hemp products, creating $8 billion worth of business. A number of stakeholders reliant on the Texas market have noted the financial impacts of a THC ban. One of those stakeholders is Jim Hogdon, who owns Cornbread, a THC gummy company based in Kentucky.
“From Cornbread’s perspective, we’re based in Kentucky, but Texas is very important to us,” said Hogdon said to the Observer in early March. “Something like seven and a half percent of our revenue comes from our customers in Texas. Cornbread is a brand that Texans really respond well to. And SB3 appears to make it a felony to ship products, hemp products into Texas. So our customers, our E-commerce customers in Texas, would not be able to order our products if SB3 passes.”
A full THC ban will face challenges as it moves through the House, especially as representatives push for regulation over outlawing. With Burrows putting his efforts behind other initiatives, like education and property rights, SB3 may lose steam. But Patrick told the Tribune he would accept nothing less than a full ban on all THC products, threatening to corner Abbott into calling a special session until his priority bill passed. Until then, Patrick issued caution to shops continuing to sell hemp products while it is still legal.
“My recommendation is if you’re watching – I know a lot of people are watching out there who are in this business – you might want to voluntarily close your doors,” Patrick said in a press conference. “Because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come.”
Allen Police Chief Steve Dye has become an outspoken critic of THC products, speaking often about the danger of mislabeled THC products.
“Labels on many products do not reflect the actual level of THC inside the packaging, which is leading to accidental intoxications, overdoses and increased addiction for these psychoactive products, particularly to our youth,” Dye recently said during a Texas Senate hearing.
Dye led several raids on smoke shops in his jurisdiction, even arresting shop owners and employees found selling highly intoxicating products. The police chief has made the trip down to Austin several times to discuss what he claims to be fatal risks of mislabeled THC products. Dye has gone so far as to say that THC products have led to several overdoses, but recently, a concerned Dallasite decided to fact-check the chief.
Matthew Fain, a local photographer, saw a video of Dye’s latest testimony before the Senate, where he claimed THC overdose deaths were happening in county jails and hospitals. Fain submitted an open records request to the Allen Police Department for all recorded overdose deaths in the last 365 days. There were two overdoses on the report, but both were from opiates, not THC, said Fain.
According to documents reviewed by the Observer, a man with a history of opioid and heroin use died in Allen in August of 2024 from an overdose of narcotics, though his toxicology report also indicated cannabis use. Another woman died in May of 2024; drug paraphernalia and pills were located near her body, but the incident report does not list cannabis. The Allen Police Department did not respond to calls or emails.
“I couldn’t believe what I heard because it was just, there’s no evidence to support it and nothing was presented,” Fain said.
Fain isn’t a stakeholder in the THC industry; he says he barely smokes weed, but his outrage is sourced from dissatisfaction with people in positions of power.
“Even though I don’t partake like I did when I was younger, it’s still an issue that’s important to me because I know there’s a lot of people out there who benefit from [it], and to have a public leader just straight up lie, for God knows what,” he said.
“}]] The ban’s passage through the Senate is a victory for the lieutenant governor, who named it his top priority for 2025. Read More
