With just days left in the legislative session, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) and the Texas Senate held a press conference to highlight sweeping changes to cannabis policy, namely, banning intoxicating hemp products and expanding the state's medical marijuana program.
Lawmakers, alarmed by the proliferation of THC-infused consumables sold in convenience stores and smoke shops, are seeking to close what Patrick described as a dangerous loophole in the 2019 hemp legalization bill. That law, originally intended to foster agricultural hemp, unintentionally opened the door to an unregulated $8 billion market.
“They have come into our state and used our state to be a drug dealer,” Lt. Gov. Patrick said. “We will not let the state of Texas be in the drug business.”
At the press conference, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick stood beside Senator Charles Perry (R) and a table full of brightly packaged THC products that resembled candy.
“Now you see why, of the 8,000 plus locations… almost all of them are in a thousand, two thousand feet of schools,” he said. “Don’t let them tell you ‘We didn’t target kids.’ What do you think this targets?”
The legislation, Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 46, marks a significant crackdown on retail hemp consumables while expanding the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) for medical cannabis.
“Historically, Texas has never medicated through a gas station or a convenience store,” said Sen. Perry, author of SB 3. “It’s moving it to the proper area, where it’s prescribed and doctor monitored.”
HB 46, which passed the Texas Senate unanimously, would increase the number of licensed dispensaries from three to twelve and allow for 90-day prescriptions. It also raises THC limits in medical products from one percent by weight to ten milligrams per dose and adds chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions.
Perry emphasized the importance of making medical cannabis more accessible and cost-effective. Under current law, cannabis must be stored at the same site it is produced.
“If someone in Lubbock needed this product… they would have to have a physical driver take it from Austin to Lubbock,” he explained. The new bill allows for satellite storage, easing logistics and reducing costs.
An amendment from Rep. Tom Oliverson (R) reverted the House’s regulated-hemp version of SB 3 back to the Texas Senate’s complete ban. The final version now awaits Governor Greg Abbott’s decision.
Asked if he expects Abbott to sign it, Patrick said, “I know the governor, I know where his heart is, and I know where he wants to be to protect children and adults.”
