A key Texas official wants to ban all forms of THC products in the state.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said this week that a bill will be introduced in the Texas Senate that would “ban all forms of consumable Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)” in the state “and keep these unsafe products off our streets.”
The proposed ban would apply to consumable products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and hemp products including drinks, gummies and vapes.
Patrick, a Republican, said in a Wednesday news release that “since 2023, thousands of stores selling hazardous THC products have popped up in communities across the state, and many sell products, including beverages, that have three to four times the THC content which might be found in marijuana purchased from a drug dealer.”
Since 2018 – when the Farm Bill legalized hemp production and unintentionally contained a loophole that allowed the manufacture of delta-8 THC, THCA and other intoxicating, hemp-derived cannabinoids – sales of hemp-derived THC products have boomed in states such as Texas, which has an incredibly limited medical marijuana program and no access to regulated, adult-use marijuana.
The prevalence of such products has spurred calls for Congress to take action and led some states to ban intoxicating hemp outright or implement strict regulations.
That includes a previous attempt to ban delta-8 THC products in Texas, where the Department of State Health Services’ proposed ban was defeated in court; an appeal was rejected in October 2023 by Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals.
Now, Patrick is attempting a ban on THC through Texas’ Republican-controlled Legislature.
His involvement is key because the lieutenant governor “presides over the Senate and largely controls the flow of legislation in the chamber,” the Texas Tribune reported.
Patrick said the impending Senate Bill 3 will be sponsored by Republican state Sen. Charles Perry.
The Austin-based Tribune noted that a ban on THC “is among (Patrick’s) top priorities for the upcoming legislative session.”
The Legislature will reconvene on Jan. 14, according to the Tribune.
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