Gov. Greg Abbott's last veto of the night Sunday was one of the most anticipated this year. Shortly before the midnight deadline, he struck down Senate Bill 3, which would have completely banned Texas sales of consumable hemp-based products containing THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis.
“I was just exuberant,” said Dustin Goss, manager of World of Smoke & Vape in Fort Worth. “I just got happy. It was just an amazing thing to hear.”
More than 8,000 THC-related stores have opened across the state since 2019 after a federal farm bill legalized selling consumable hemp. The bill also created a loophole for other hemp-derived strains of THC — including Delta-8 — that produce the “high” associated with marijuana.
Since then, the hemp industry in Texas has accounted for about 50,000 jobs and generated $8 billion in tax revenue annually, according to GlobeNewswire.
Eli Burton, who has been in the hemp industry for about six years, said he remembers watching the industry explode after Texas’ 2019 hemp bill passed.
“It was it was a huge boost for our business at one point,” Burton said. “In the first three years I was here, this store's revenue doubled.”
Burton, the owner of Artisan Vapor in Fort Worth, felt frustrated as SB3 passed through the Texas House and Senate — and was surprised with Abbott’s decision once it reached his desk.
“If the total prohibition had gone through, that destroys our company,” Burton said. “It destroys this store, probably a 60% loss in revenue here and across the board at our hundreds of other stores."
Burton, Goss and other business owners said they’re relieved Abbott vetoed the ban – and are now looking ahead to a special session this summer to further regulate the industry.
“At least for the next couple of months... I think that's still going to be a positive for the hemp industry,” Goss said. “I don't think that Greg Abbott can argue against an $8 billion industry.”
In his veto proclamation Abbott called SB3 “well intentioned,” but said if he allowed it to go into law it would face “legal attacks” like a similar ban in Arkansas.
“Texas needs a bill that is enforceable and will make our communities safer today, rather than years from now,” the governor said.
Lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol for a special session July 21 with consumable hemp regulation at the top of the agenda – something Alex Noriega, owner of the dispensary store Natural Buds in Fort Worth, welcomes.
Noriega had been preparing for SB 3 to take effect. He sold his house and assets to open his shop and was worried about the impacts the ban would have on his family.
“I couldn't believe it,” Noriega said when he found out about the bill’s veto. “I had emotionally prepared for the worst already, what to do with my assets and moving them out of state after September 1, and what I was going to have to prepare for rent-wise and taking care of employees.”
Noriega is in favor of more regulation to keep "bad actors" out of the business — namely people or companies that might sell unsafe or untested products.
“Without oversight, there's not someone making sure that there's not a toenail inside of gummies or something like that,” he said.
Burton said he hopes lawmakers adopt a “common sense” approach to the hemp industry.
“Nobody wants this in schools or by churches or being sold to children, but you need to give adults that have made their own mind up or who are in search of healthier alternatives to the pain medications are being offered something that they can use.”
While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pushes for a full ban on THC products, Abbott is calling on lawmakers to develop restrictions on where it’s sold and how it’s packaged, as well as testing regulations and punishments for selling THC to minors – the state currently doesn’t have an age restriction on THC sales.
Goss said he believes the special session could bring a positive outcome for the industry.
“I was reading through [Abbott’s] statement that he attached to the veto and it did give me a lot of promise in terms of how hemp is going to survive in the state of Texas,” Goss said. “He was very, very clear that this is more of a regulation as needed.”
Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
