Policy Versus The People

On March 19, 2025, the Texas Senate passed a bill with a 24-7 vote prohibiting any amount of THC in hemp-based products, despite 68% of voters supporting the current hemp market. In the new legislation authored by Senator Charles Perry (R), only CBD and CBG cannabinoids will be allowed in consumable products, with the goal of closing the THC loophole. However, the bill offers no regulatory solutions for Delta-8 THC or forward-thinking considerations for the legalization of cannabis. 

Leaders in the cannabis industry have made huge strides toward a legal, regulated market over the last 20 years. The Farm Bill of 2018 was a huge benchmark for the industry, but it seems lawmakers in some states are finding new ways to decry legal hemp policies. 

Intoxicating hemp-based products technically operate in a market loophole and are largely unregulated. Psychotropic THC only exists at a level of 0.3% in Farm Bill-approved hemp, but extraction and concentration processes still allow hemp-based products to get you high in the same way. While intoxicating Delta-8 products are being sold freely, traditional cannabis is heavily tested and regulated. 

In some ways, we at The Green Letter understand policymakers’ concerns. Some brands do get away with flashy colors or imagery that could be attractive to children, which is inappropriate. Delta-8 could contain byproducts like heavy metals or chemical compounds from cheap extraction methods, and are heavily processed compared to extracts from traditional cannabis flower. Although many hemp companies use the safest possible extraction methods and incorporate organic compounds into their products, not all are created equal.

This conundrum leads to legitimate cannabis businesses fighting to stay afloat. While hemp-derived THC products in many states are sold freely without regulation, Delta-9 products are under constant scrutiny. A fair system would subject all THC-containing products to the same standards and testing protocols, regardless of the plant the product is derived from. 

Fear-mongering and outlandish claims are likely to undo any industry progress in Texas, while potentially shutting down around 8,000 legitimate small businesses currently selling Delta-8 products. The Senate’s news release claims that overdoses of THC can exacerbate existing mental health conditions, induce psychosis, and in some cases, trigger schizophrenia. This was used to support the bill.

Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jager outlined the legislative sentiment: “For those that argue that this should just be more regulation and tax, there’s not enough tax that we can collect that will deal with the behavioral health issues and the addictions that we currently face,” Perry said on the Senate floor. “It would be in the billions. It’s unenforceable because every day a new product hits the shelf that was at the whim of a chemist.” 

His article also quoted Perry: “What they have created and what they’re doing is akin to K2 and Spice and bath salts of the past that we as a legislature voted out of existence as soon as possible,” he said. “The effect of what this drug is doing to the people that are involved in it — contrary to what you hear — is devastating lives. It’s generational. It is creating psychosis. It’s creating paranoia.”

These unsubstantiated claims are detrimental to the cannabis industry, reverting back to a 1930s-era of proliferating fear around consumption. Thousands of businesses could be closed, and those that remain open will be subject to increased taxes, regulations, and scrutiny. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told retailers to close their doors or the government would take care of closing them. “We’re going to ban your stores,” he said. Tens of thousands of Texas residents could lose their jobs. Liquor stores will be forced to eliminate THC beverages from their shelves, likely leading to an increase in alcohol consumption as there will now be fewer alternatives.

This will also serve to bolster black market efforts. Without legal options for getting high, people will do what they’ve always done — find their buzz illegally, or find another substance that provides the intoxicating effects they are seeking.

While there are potential health-related concerns for cannabis consumption, legalization is not the cause. Maryland Matters writer Danielle J. Brown reported that “Cannabis-related emergency room visits climbed steadily through July 2023, when recreational use was first legalized in Maryland, but have never reached that peak again, fluctuating up and down in the months since.” 

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, “No deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported. Although, there have been an increasing number of emergency room visits involving marijuana edibles.” Conversely, alcohol is known to be a deadly intoxicant. The Centers for Disease Control website highlights “about 178,000 people die from excessive drinking each year.”

Why, then, would Texas tout concern for citizen safety, criminalizing any level of THC while keeping alcohol legal, and subjecting cannabis consumers to revert to underground sources to find products? 

It’s not that the majority of cannabis businesses are trying to sell products that are of questionable safety to make a dollar. Quite the opposite, in fact. Many are in favor of regulations that ensure quality and consistency across the board.

This comes from a recent article in The Dallas Observer: 

Some Texas cities are fighting back against outlandish policies. According to Shadd Dales of The Dales Report, a judge ruled Dallas can continue its voter-approved cannabis decriminalization policy, meaning no arrests or citations for possessing less than four ounces of cannabis, aligning with the preferences of more than two-thirds of Dallas voters. KUT Austin reported Austin, Bastrop, Lockhart, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, Denton and Harker Heights as cities with decriminalization ordinances.

With decriminalization supported in so many cities, residents are clearly not in favor of cannabis prohibition now law across Texas. Jake Westerman, Global Accounts Manager at Laurelcrest Labs, said on LinkedIn, “Bills that promote prohibition, criminalization, and draconian legislation disproportionately effect the good actors in these industries, and only serve to stifle the advancements to cultivation and manufacturing practices that can and will ensure a safer end product for the millions of cannabis consumers out there!” 

Texas – we see you, and we disagree with legislation against the will of your citizens. If you can use outrageous claims to pass this bill that destroys the wellbeing of tens of thousands of your state’s citizens, not to mention eliminating billions of dollars in revenue, what is your goal, and where is your limit?

What are your thoughts on Texas’ new cannabis prohibition policies? Share your thoughts by reaching out to [email protected].