SOURCE: CannabisWire
EXCERPT:
Texas has been wrestling with a widespread intoxicating hemp market, despite cannabis not being legal in the state. Now, Sen. Charles Perry has introduced Senate Bill 3, legislation that would tighten regs on consumable hemp products.
It would ban all cannabinoids except CBD and CBG and would require retailers to register with the state. It would also criminalize the sale, possession, or manufacturing of products that contain any cannabinoid other than CBD or CBG, with penalties ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. Those in violation could also face steep fines of up to $10,000.
If passed, the law would take effect Sept. 1.
+ Context: Back in December, as Cannabis Wire reported, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Senate Bill 3, which he described as an effort to “ban all forms of consumable Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from being sold in Texas.”
He said that “retailers exploited the agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of THC to the public and made them easily accessible.” Perry’s bill puts this effort into motion.
+ More: Heather Fazio, director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center, said that while she supports some common sense regs, like reducing the products’ appeal to youth, the bill “goes too far.”
"We share Senator Perry’s concern about regulatory oversight and youth access," Fazio said in a statement. "However, an outright ban on THC will only fuel the illicit market, making it impossible to enforce regulations and ensure product safety for Texas consumers."
+ Elsewhere: There are efforts to ban or restrict intoxicating hemp products in more than a dozen states, and we’re watching them closely to see which ones meaningfully advance in legislatures.
In states where top officials – like Patrick in Texas – make it a priority, bills are more likely to move. In Ohio, for example, Gov. Mike DeWine spoke with local journalists last week about his priorities, and called out the “hyped-up hemp product that scoots through the law today."
"That has to stop, and the legislature, at the bare minimum, has to take action on that,” he said.
It’s worth noting that DeWine pushed lawmakers on the issue last year, and legislation didn’t move. But Sen. Steve Huffman is back at it this year with SB 86, and the U.S. Hemp Roundtable has started to rally hemp supporters against it.
+ What’s next: the reality is that a ban on these products, either through legislation or regulation, is rarely the end of the road.
In Missouri for example, as Cannabis Wire reported, the hemp industry swiftly took legal action last year after former Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order to ban intoxicating hemp products; they stalled the effort.
And in California, where, as Cannabis Wire reported, Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed an emergency ban that is set to expire next month, intoxicating hemp products are still widely available.
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