AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he wants to ban all consumable THC in the state, with a plan to back a bill in the upcoming legislative session to ban all forms of the psychoactive substance.
State lawmakers have yet to file what is expected to be Senate Bill 3. But while the specific text hasn't been seen, there is already concern about what this would mean for the growing billion-dollar hemp industry in Texas.
THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the predominant chemical in marijuana that gets people high. It can be accessed in several forms, from the actual cannabis plant to THC-infused sodas.
Steve Marengo, the director of operations at Pinnacle Essentials, said an outright ban would mean the end of their business. Roughly 90% of the products they have contain THC.
"It would be pretty much wiped out, or it would be brought down to a level where it wouldn't be a business model that could be sustainable," Marengo said.
The demand for hemp-derived products like drinks, gummies and topical ointments is budding.
House Bill 1325, which was passed in 2019, 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, as well as products that contain delta-9 THC at 0.3% of the total weight, which can still be an intoxicating amount at a high ratio.
But Lt. Gov. Patrick said in the last few years, thousands of cannabis stores have opened across the state. He claims 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.
"When you have a business like ours that prides itself on being ethical, 100% compliant with the law and creating a good environment for our customers, it's very frustrating," Marengo said. "I feel like an industry is being singled out by the bad actors, and that's just not what we do."
Critics cite issues with access, regulation and labeling of products. In recent years, products have become more widely available in various forms.
Cannabis attorney Michelle Donovan said there are ways to address that and crack down without a complete ban.
"You have to balance the economics with the threat of harm to the public. We make more stringent procedures. We don't use labels that are 'kid-friendly,' with cartoonish figures on them, that have any food resemblance or flavors of strawberries or grapes," Donovan said. "We have warnings on there that say this has to be consumed by an individual over a certain age, and then the product itself has to be tested."
Marengo said he supports age and dosage limits and believes that is a better way to address the root issue and concern. He said they do not sell to anyone under 21 at his store.
"We do not sell to kids. We do not market to kids," Marengo said. "If you're looking up products in our stores, we will tell you that these are not products for children, and we're firmly against that."
Donovan said without a more regulatory and compliance-based approach, banning it would hinder the hemp industry.
"That's like saying, 'Alcohol is legal, but we're going to ban it totally in our state now. You can't sell it, you can't consume it, you can't have anything that has anything to do with alcohol,'" Donovan said. "That's what's going to happen if this bill were to pass."
If THC products are banned, Texas Cannabis Coalition founder Andrea Wimberly said it won't make things safer.
"I know Lt. Gov. Patrick is saying he's doing this for consumer safety, but he's doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done because with what he's doing right now, by banning it, it's just going to send it straight to the black market, which means it's no regulation at all. And that's about as dangerous as it gets," Wimberly said.
That is also a fear of Marengo.
"I'm thinking of the veteran who loses access to these products and then goes out to the street and buys a bag of marijuana that's laced with fentanyl," he said. "Now we have a dead father or a dead soldier or a dead mother or a dead son."
Some worry that this bill will limit access to these products for therapeutic use. Marengo said the primary purpose of his store is to help people through a wellness model. Customers use the products for things like sleep issues, anxiety, pain relief and, in some cases, behavioral problems.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, it's going to affect our veterans community negatively. The number of veterans that we have come into our store daily is measurable. They're able to deal with PTSD. They're able to deal with anxiety or injuries. The veteran community is definitely one that I worry about immediately," he said. "I also worry tremendously about the elderly. We have a lot of elderly customers that are coming in, and they are looking for relief for a lifetime of pain, chronic pain, you know, we have a lot of people who just come in and say, I need a change."
The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), would ban those products. Perry did not respond to a KVUE request for an interview or comment on Thursday.
Back in May, the most recent Texas Lyceum Poll showed that 60% of Texans surveyed supported marijuana legalization. And while 31% didn't support legalization, nearly half said they would support decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana to a citation or fine.
"If he wants to fix this and make it good, I would say legalize all the way, and that way, we've got a huge industry that could really be big in Texas," Wimberly said. "All that money can go into different industries, like health care, schools and things like that. It can all be circulated back to help the communities."
Patrick said he believes the bill will have "broad bipartisan support" in the Senate and is encouraging the House to pass the bill. He also clarified that 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."
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.
Wimberly, a patient in the Compassionate Use Program, said she appreciates the available variety.
"The gummies are there because not everybody can smoke. So many patients have a debilitating condition where they can't handle inhaling the smoke ... so they need another way to consume the product," Wimberly said.
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.
During committee testimony on that bill, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said it believed "delta-8 remains on the Schedule 1 drug schedule in Texas," raising questions about if it was already illegal in the state.
The DSHS can take enforcement action against hemp licensees who sell consumable hemp products containing controlled substances; however, the DSHS does not regulate possession.
Sid Miller, the agriculture commissioner of Texas, appears to disagree with Patrick on the future of THC in the Lone Star State. In a post, he suggested not all Republican lawmakers are on board.
Marengo is hoping lawmakers will be open to compromise and consider scaling back their proposal.
"At the end of the day, we are at risk of losing a $1 billion a year industry for the state of Texas," Marengo said. "Our business pays a good amount of tax money into the local jurisdictions, so we'll be losing out on that. So it could be a very damaging economic situation to the state."