Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claims he pushed through the THC ban because he cares so much about children, whom he claims were being hurt by formerly legal hemp products.
Do not believe him.
This is the same Dan Patrick who helps lead a state legislature that has gutted funds for child healthcare, social services, and education. Millions of low-income children went without grocery assistance this summer thanks to the refusal of Dan Patrick and his cronies in Austin to participate in federal nutrition programs. Almost as many low-income children and their parents no longer have access to preventative care because Dan Patrick and company decided not to expand traditional low-income adult Medicaid, leaving millions of families uninsured. This is the very same Dan Patrick who oversees a state legislature exposing vulnerable foster children to “severe” harm, as Texas courts have said, and unlicensed living arrangements and who, through Senate Bill 12, has reduced access to school-based mental healthcare, counseling, and substance-abuse prevention programs for at-risk youth.
Don’t dare tell us Dan Patrick cares about kids. Dan Patrick cares about power and money — specifically the hundreds of thousands of dollars he’s received in campaign contributions from alcohol-industry interests. Clearly, this THC ban is not about child safety. It’s about a “booze lobby shill,” according to some hardline conservatives, keeping legal hemp from cutting in on the alcohol industry’s market share.
Texas’ THC ban is not popular, with 53% of registered voters against it, based on recent polling by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project.
Under the new THC law in effect today (Jul 31), the following products are banned and considered controlled substances. Possessing them constitutes a felony. They include:
- Delta-8 THC products
- Delta-10 THC products
- Products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC
Texas’ new law does not affect edibles, tinctures, or drinks made from Delta-9 THC or products containing only trace amounts of cannabinoids.
“This is stupid,” recently wrote Dana Loesch, former NRA spokesperson and now host of a nationally syndicated conservative talk radio show. “It’s like the gun ban argument with a different variable. Kids aren’t buying it any more than any other controlled product (alcohol, cigarettes, et al.), and if they are, do your job as a parent and parent instead of idiotically expanding government.”
Though the Cannabis Business Times reports that the Texas hemp industry, with nearly 14,000 registered retail and production locations, generates around $5.5 billion in annual sales while employing more than 50,000 Texans, many legal hemp retailers and farmers in the state may go out of business thanks to Patrick’s new law. Along with the ban comes new, supremely costly licensing fees. One anonymous retailer in Houston paying around $250 in fees said he may now see that cost jump to $10,000.
For you nightflies, most THC drinks like Howdy and Wynk which many Fort Worth bars stock remain legal.
