Welp.
The Texas House late Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill that would ban all products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, likely spelling the end for the state’s short-lived hemp industry.
Under the legislation, which is nearing the governor’s desk for approval, adults would face up to a year in jail for possessing hemp products with any amount of THC — a stricter penalty than what is on the books for possessing up to 2 ounces of marijuana.
The bill’s expected passage portends a minor earthquake for the state’s economy, effectively shuttering a field that, by one estimate, accounts for roughly 50,000 jobs and generates $8 billion in tax revenue annually.
THC products, now a ubiquitous presence at gas stations, convenience stores and thousands of other retailers across Texas, are now poised to be taken off the shelves. The about-face comes six years after the Legislature inadvertently touched off a massive boom in hemp-based products when lawmakers, intending to boost Texas agriculture, authorized the sale of consumable hemp.
Though that 2019 law does not allow products to contain more than trace amounts of delta-9 THC, it did not establish that same threshold for other hemp derivatives. Critics say the hemp industry has exploited that loophole to the tune of more than 8,000 retailers now selling THC-laced edibles, drinks, vapes and flower buds.
The vote ended months of suspense over how the House would handle competing calls to ban or regulate THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana.
This session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, has led the charge to eradicate the industry, which he accuses of preying on susceptible minors by setting up stores near schools and marketing products to children. The Senate passed legislation in March to ban all THC products, and the Republican leader threatened to force an overtime session of the Legislature if the House did not get on board.
“I’ve been here for 17 years at the Texas Capitol — 10 years as your lieutenant governor. I’ve never been more passionate about anything,” Patrick said in a video posted on social media Monday evening. “I’m not gonna leave Austin until we get this done.”
Hemp industry leaders and advocates say criticism of THC products and retailers is overblown. Shortly after Wednesday’s House vote, Lukas Gilkey, chief executive of Hometown Hero, a manufacturer of hemp-derived products, said industry leaders would immediately begin preparing a lawsuit to challenge the expected ban.
Gilkey said the legal fight would be waged by the Texas Hemp Business Council, a trade group that released a statement late Wednesday blasting the House for ignoring “the voices of small businesses, farmers, veterans and consumers across the state who rely on hemp-derived products for their livelihoods and well-being.”
In lieu of an outright ban, hemp manufacturers and retailers had urged House lawmakers to adopt stricter oversight and licensing requirements, including those found in the previous House draft of the legislation, which would have preserved some types of THC products.
A majority of House lawmakers did away with that approach on Wednesday, voting 86-53 to back a floor amendment from Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, that overhauled the bill by essentially restoring the version approved by the Senate two months ago. It was a major blow for the hemp industry, which had leaned on the House as the bulwark against the Senate’s unwavering bid to outlaw THC. Several Democrats joined with the House’s Republican majority in support of the ban.
[…]
Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, framed the vote as a move “backwards in time” that defied a trend seen in other states to expand access to recreational marijuana or THC.
“We’re still rehashing parts of ‘Reefer Madness’ from the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Wu said. “We thought that we’ve gotten past this, that we’ve grown, that we’ve gotten smarter. … But here we are, back again.”
He added that the “overwhelming majority” of veterans’ groups are “aggressively supporting legalization” and want regulations rather than a ban — an attitude, Wu argued, that reflects the broader view of Texas residents.
“Texans as a whole do not want something that they’ve had access to for the last five years, something that they’ve enjoyed recreationally, that has helped them medically, that has made their lives better — they don’t want this ban either,” he said.
See here for the background. Good luck with the lawsuit – I’m not sure offhand on what grounds they would sue, but I’ll find out when they do. I will say this again, more slowly this time: The Texas Hemp Business Council and everyone else who liked and used these products and who would someday like to see Texas decriminalize marijuana need to go all in on un-electing Dan Patrick. I mean, what do you have to fear from him at this point? The Sisypheans who keep pushing for expanded gambling every other year can continue to delude themselves that if they throw enough money and lobbyists around they might somehow overcome Danno’s resistance. The hemp folks cannot possibly be laboring under that illusion now. I know that electing a Democratic Lite Guv seems impossible, but 1) you literally have nothing to lose; 2) this is an issue with broad support; and 3) what is the alternative? Take your best shot at throwing him out of office. It’s your only hope. The Chron, Reform Austin, Lone Star Left, and The Barbed Wire have more.
The cruelty is the point. F*ck Republicans.
Note to self: Before Friday, 05/23/25, is over, make sure you go online and buy a years worth of TX-legal CBD gummies that allow you to sleep continously for seven hours every night.
The ghouls in the legislature need to be popping some of those. Maybe they would discover what it is like to be human.. you know, not strip people of things that make life a little more bearable.