LT. GOV, SENATORS HIGHLIGHT CANNABIS POLICY CHANGES

(AUSTIN) — With just a few days left in session, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and a number of senators held a press conference Wednesday to tout the Senate’s work on banning intoxicating hemp consumables while expanding the state’s medical marijuana program. Alarmed by the rapid expansion of the hemp consumable industry – more than 8,000 retailers in 3 years said Patrick –lawmakers in both chambers wanted to address the unregulated, $8 billion market that arose out of a loophole in a 2019 bill intended to create an agricultural hemp industry in Texas. Instead, the state was flooded with unregulated, highly-intoxicating products sold out of smoke shops and convenience stores. “They have come into our state and used our state to be a drug dealer,” said Patrick. “We will not let the state of Texas be in the drug business.”

Lubbock Senator Charles Perry joins Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Wednesday press conference to discuss sweeping changes made to cannabis policy in Texas this session.

Overdose of THC can lead to a number of negative outcomes, from temporary psychosis to, in some cases, the onset of schizophrenia. Beyond the hazards to adults, said Patrick, is the danger to kids – who he says are the real target of hemp consumable sellers. To emphasize that, Patrick presented a table full of THC consumables, colorfully packaged like candy. “Now you see why, of the 8,000 plus locations… almost all of them are in a thousand, two thousand feet of schools,” said Patrick, gesturing to the panoply of brightly colored bags and boxes before him. “Don’t let them tell you ‘we didn’t target kids’. What do you think this targets?”

While closing this loophole will virtually eliminate the hemp consumable industry in Texas, the bill’s author emphasized that the state is opening the door for more people with actual medical need to participate to in the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), which allows individuals with certain conditions to receive cannabis for treatment. “Historically, Texas has never medicated through a gas station or a convenience store,” said SB 3 author and Lubbock Senator Charles Perry. “It’s moving it to the proper area, where it’s prescribed and doctor-monitored.” HB 46, also sponsored by Perry, passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday night. It would raise the number of licensed dispensaries from 3 to 12 and let doctors write prescriptions for a 90 day supply. Notably, it would significantly increase the potency of cannabis dispensed through the program, from one percent THC by weight under current law to ten milligrams per dosing unit. It also adds chronic pain to the conditions eligible for treatment through TCUP, a major concern for Texans who had been using the soon-to-be illegal hemp products to find relief.

The program as it exists is burdensome and expensive to operate, Perry said. It requires cannabis be housed at the same location in which it was produced. Though three entities are currently licensed to produce medical cannabis under TCUP, only one was doing so, and it is based in Austin. “If someone in Lubbock needed this product, under TCUP they would have to have a physical driver take it from Austin to Lubbock and if that person wasn’t there when it arrived in Lubbock, they would bring the product back,” he said. “We’re going to solve that by having satellite locations that actually store the product.” In addition to making it more convenient for patients, it also drastically reduces the program’s cost, said Perry.

While the version of SB 3 that came out of the Senate banned any form of THC in any consumable hemp product, the version initially presented on the House floor would’ve allowed sales to continue, albeit under strict regulation and oversight. An amendment to the bill offered by Tomball Representative Tom Oliverson reverted the bill back to the Senate version, which passed the House and now sits on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk awaiting either his signature or veto. When asked if he knew which way Abbott would decide, Patrick declined to speak for the governor but said he trusts Abbott’s judgement. “I know the governor, I know where his heart is, and I know where he wants to be to protect children and adults,” said Patrick.

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