Texas has seen an explosion of THC products that are inhalable or edible and contain the cannabinoids known as delta-8, delta-9 and other variations. These products are intoxicating and coming in the forms of vapes, candy, drinks, cookies and more.
While marijuana is illegal in Texas these products are legal under state law, as it is now understood.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced this week that he will make banning all forms of THC a legislative priority in the coming legislative session.
Patrick said the THC ban would be designated as Senate Bill 3 and will be carried by state Senator Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock.
Since Texas lawmakers passed a bill in 2019 to allow the sale of hemp-based products in Texas, there has been a booming market—and the establishment of thousands of cannabis dispensaries across the state. It’s been described as an 8 billion-dollar-a-year market.
That law was intended to support Texas agriculture by permitting the commercialization of hemp containing trace amounts of non-intoxicating THC.
In his statement Patrick holds that the law is being abused by retailers. He says they are using loopholes to sell products with high levels of THC which are beyond the legal limits.
These products are widely available at specialty stores, vape shops and gas stations. And these products are getting into the hands of minors.
Patrick claimed in his statement, these products, including beverages, have "three or four times the THC content which might be found in marijuana purchased from a drug dealer."
And he said the bill "will ban all forms of THC and keep these unsafe products off our streets.”
In 2021 there was an attempt to ban delta-8 in Texas by the Department of State Health Services seeking to declare it an illegal substance.
But a lawsuit brought by Hometown Hero managed to hold off that ban for now. Hometown Hero is an Austin-based cannabis business that manufactures and sells products like delta-8 and delta-9 edibles consumables and vapes, THC drinks, CBD and more.
Cynthia Cabrara is the chief strategy officer for Hometown Hero.
Doctor Matthew Rossheim has been warning Texans for years about the dangers of THC products that are easily available. He is an expert on the health impacts derived intoxicating cannabis products on children. He is a professor at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s School of Public Health.
He has over 15 years of experience conducting substance use research to help inform prevention and control efforts, delivering more than 100 presentations and publishing more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts on this topic. His research is designed to help guide policies that prevent underage and excessive alcohol use, as well as tobacco and cannabis use initiation. His research focuses on the marketing of substances frequently used by young people including supersized alcopops, electronic cigarettes, and derived psychoactive cannabis products such as delta-8 THC. His research has been cited in reports by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization,
When it comes to the problem of easily available cannabis-derived products in Texas Attorney Susan Hays says the problem is the lack of enforcement and monitoring the products now being sold. The state has been working on the honor system for these intoxicants and if that doesn’t get fixed, Texas will continue to have a problem with powerful THC products being sold. Hays is also a former Democratic candidate for Texas Commission of Agriculture.
