Texas senator seeks medical marijuana expansion, hemp THC ban

A Texas lawmaker wants to end the state’s nation-leading, $3 billion hemp-derived THC market while also expanding its notoriously restrictive medical marijuana program that bans all but extremely low THC products.

State Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican, presented separate bills in committee Monday that would drastically revamp access to products with THC.

Both bills remained in committee as of Thursday.

Under Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, which went into effect in 2015, cannabis patients are allowed only “low-THC” products with no more than 0.5% THC by weight.

Many critics point out that more potent products derived from hemp are available in Texas under the 2018 federal Farm Bill and that, functionally, the state has little more than a CBD program.

Perry’s Senate Bill 1505 would boost the “dosage unit” in medical marijuana products to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and allow products with total THC per package of up to 300 milligrams.

And, for the first time, the bill would legalize vaporizing or “pulmonary inhalation,” but smokable flower would still be banned.

The measure would also double the number of dispensaries allowed statewide from three to six, Austin-based TV station KVUE reported.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 3 – a hemp-derived THC ban supported by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick – was also heard in committee on Monday.

Perry wrote a 2019 law that’s credited with encouraging the MMJ industry’s growth, but he said in committee that statute has been “exploited” by bad actors.

“From a credibility perspective, the current industry providers – and there are several that are controllers of this industry – have shown not to be trustworthy,” he said during the hearing, according to the Texas Tribune.

Banning all products that contain THC would be a doomsday scenario for the hemp-derived cannabinoid industry, which is thriving in Texas.

But as the Tribune pointed out, it also seems unlikely to happen.

Even though Patrick and Perry are pushing a ban in the Senate, no similar proposals have yet to emerge in the state’s House.

According to the Tribune, hemp advocates are hopeful Texas lawmakers might limit any action to:

• Restricting hemp THC products to Texans 21 and older.
• Packaging requirements.
• Buffer zones near schools.
• Testing requirements.