The Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 3, a proposal that seeks to ban products containing any amount of THC, even when sourced from federally legal industrial hemp crops, CBS News reports. The ban does not apply to the state’s limited medical cannabis program.
The House voted 95-44 in favor of SB3, which was authored by Sen. Charles Perry and passed the Senate in March. If signed into law, the bill would prohibit the sale of any products containing delta-8 or delta-9 THC — or any other cannabinoids, except CBD or CBG — effectively shuttering the state’s $8 billion retail hemp products industry.
“We are deeply disappointed by the Texas House’s passage of [SB3], a bill that dismantles the legal hemp industry and ignores the voices of small businesses, farmers, veterans and consumers across the state who rely on hemp-derived products for their livelihoods and well-being.” — The Texas Hemp Business Council, in a statement
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who announced last year that banning THC outright would be one of his top priorities in 2025, thanked lawmakers for passing the bill.
Meanwhile, House lawmakers prefaced the THC crackdown with a vote last week to expand the state’s limited medical cannabis program by adding chronic pain and Crohn’s disease to its list of qualifying conditions.
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