Texas is close to enacting a total ban on THC and THCA hemp products, as a law outlawing manufacturing, sales and possession heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for final approval.
The legislation, Senate Bill 3, represents a major victory for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has led a highly personal crusade against a hemp industry that has emerged since the state aligned its laws with federal Farm Bill policy in 2019, legalizing products that contain less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. That action, advocates of prohibition argue, has created an unregulated and unsafe market that puts children at risk.
Under the new law, which would take effect in September, manufacturing, selling or possessing hemp products that contain any amount of THC or THCA (a precursor to THC that converts when heated) is criminalized. Non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD and CBG are permitted, but can only be sold with a state license.
“We are not banning hemp. We are banning ‘high,’” said Texas House Rep. Tom Oliverson, a supporter of the bill.
The bill’s imminent passage has sparked sharp condemnation from hemp advocates like the Texas Hemp Business Council, which claims that 53,000 jobs could be lost as a result. The group had advocated for stronger regulations in lieu of prohibition, but those efforts were defeated in the Senate.
Jake Bullock, a pioneer in low-dose legal THC drinks as co-founder of Cann, slammed legislators for effectively “driving dangerous, untested, high-dose, synthetic products underground” rather than imposing “sensible” regulations around age requirements, dosing and testing.
“It’s astounding to see Texas lawmakers lean into the ridiculous narrative that low-dose, hemp-derived THC beverages are harming children,” Bullock wrote. “Millions of adults across the country safely consume low-dose hemp beverages every day through age-gated channels, like grocery stores, local markets, liquor stores, and thousands of local small businesses rely on their sales.”
Alleh Lindquist, co-founder of THC soda Drippy, sounded a more ominous note, posting an urgent rallying cry for collective action on Linkedin under an image that reads “This is What Losing Looks Like.”
“We need businesses, stakeholders, and advocates united behind a single voice that understands this moment and what it takes to end prohibition,” Lindquist wrote.
Thomas Winstanley, who helped lead THC beverage strategy at Theory Wellness prior to taking the reins at Edibles.com., wrote that the law will “send shockwaves” across the industry, and invoked one of Texans’ most treasured rights: “When it comes to firearms, we don’t ban every lawful owner because of a few who break the law. Yet with hemp, that’s exactly what’s happening—an entire legal industry is being punished for the actions of a few. Why the double standard?”
Houston-based Bayou City Hemp (owners of 8th Wonder Brewing) have helped seed the market, convincing major retail chains like Total Wine and Spec’s to get on board in Texas with locally minded products, like THC-infused ranch water Howdy.
Citing a drop in cross-border marijuana traffic over the last three years, Bayou City CEO/co-founder Ben Meggs argued in a February op-ed that a state THC ban would only benefit a black market of “criminal gangs who stand ready to fire up their drones to fly over remote border walls to revive their failing businesses.”
“If this ban goes through, our own multi-million-dollar facility will have to cease construction immediately, and more than 100 jobs will be outsourced,” Meggs told Brewbound’s sibling publication BevNET in a statement today.
“Most of our employees won’t be able to move their whole families to Florida. It’s truly devastating on so many levels,” he continued. “This bill is a direct hit to Texas jobs, veterans, and responsible consumers, targeting an industry President Trump legalized and forcing companies to flee the state just to ship products back in. We urge Governor Abbott to veto this misguided bill and stand with us in regulating, not eliminating, an industry that saves lives and livelihoods.”
The law has garnered some support from groups like the Texas Package Store Association.
Ironically, adopting Senate Bill 3 will align conservative Texas’ hemp-THC policies with those found in liberal California, which in March extended a six-month emergency ban on “intoxicating hemp products” first imposed in September. That measure is now set to expire on June 24, and can be readopted only one more time, according to California law.
There’s also concern that neighboring states with hemp-friendly policies stand to benefit at Texas’ expense. Winstanley said the bill will “inevitably” send consumers into New Mexico to access regulated cannabis, a scenario that is already playing out, according to some reports.