Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify remarks made by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Texas lawmakers must outlaw all intoxicating THC products and increase regulations on the hemp industry during the current special legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott told Community Impact on July 22.

“My overall goal is to protect the lives of children while at the same time protecting the liberty of adults to use a nonintoxicating product,” Abbott said in a July 22 interview at the state capitol. “The way that we protect the lives of children is to completely ban any type of THC product, any type of hemp and any type of marijuana from [children] being able to use it.”

Texas’ special legislative session began June 21 and will last up to 30 days.

What you need to know


On June 22, Abbott vetoed a proposed THC ban that state lawmakers approved during the regular legislative session, citing “undeniable” legal defects in the legislation. In a veto statement, he urged lawmakers to “strongly regulate hemp” with stringent testing requirements and limitations on when and where products can be sold.

Abbott also noted June 22 that the proposal would have banned products with trace amounts of THC, which he said would invite “potential criminal entrapment” for hemp farmers.

One month later, state senators considered Senate Bill 5, by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a July 22 committee hearing.

SB 5 seeks to prohibit the possession, sale and manufacture of all hemp-derived THC products, with exceptions for the state’s low-THC medical cannabis program. Perry’s bill is in line with what Abbott told Community Impact he wanted to do, although the governor said July 22 that he had not read the legislation.


Perry said retailers would be allowed to continue selling nonintoxicating hemp products that do not contain THC, including CBD and CBG, under SB 5.

“The only hemp product that's going to be out there is nonintoxicating hemp, which is below three milligrams of THC in the hemp, and we will make sure that there will be the level of enforcement to provide that,” Abbott told Community Impact.

What's happening

During the July 22 hearing, law enforcement officers told the Senate State Affairs Committee they did not think it was possible to regulate THC in lieu of an outright ban. Allen Police Chief Steve Dye, speaking on behalf of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, said police departments did not have the resources or personnel to effectively regulate approximately 8,000 THC retailers across the state.


“It would take decades, in our opinion, and millions and millions of dollars, to hire and train agents to understand chemistry, focusing thresholds, lab testing and labeling compliance—and they will never be able to keep pace with the retailers, wholesalers and shippers,” Dye told the committee. “I have not been able to speak to the governor directly, but I would certainly tell him the same thing: we are confident that even a well-intended regulatory approach would be the same or similar to legalization that has occurred in other states.”

Abbott proposed that all farmers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors of nonintoxicating hemp be required to purchase “a certificate and a license” to remain in business.

“The money that will come in from that will provide the resources to law enforcement to fully enforce this regulatory system,” he said. “There's going to be a more structured retail system only authorized [for] people who have a license to provide [hemp], and it's going to be done in a safe, secure way that doesn't interfere with communities.”News of Abbott’s intent to ban THC reached the Senate committee around 12:40 p.m. July 22.


How we got here

Texas lawmakers have said a THC ban would close a “loophole” state lawmakers inadvertently created in 2019, when they legalized hemp sales in an attempt to boost the agricultural industry.

Abbott told Community Impact that SB 3, the bill he vetoed after the regular session, would have “criminalized even a trace of THC.”

“The fact of the matter is, there are traces of THC in the seeds that farmers use, there are traces of THC in the hemp products that farmers grow,” Abbott said July 22. “[Lawmakers] need to make sure that farmers are going to be able to grow [and] sell their products, whether it be seeds, whether it be the fiber... up to a level of no more than three milligrams of THC in it.”


SB 5, Perry’s current proposal, would allow farmers to continue growing and selling nonintoxicating hemp products, including hemp oils and seeds.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate, has said a THC ban is necessary to protect Texans from high-potency products that are currently subject to limited regulations.

“Make no mistake, what [THC retailers] are selling is illegal. ... The best way to protect the adults or the children is to ban the product,” Patrick said during a June 23 news conference.

Critics of a THC ban, including the Texas Hemp Business Council, have said it would damage the economy and harm some veterans who use THC to treat conditions such as PTSD, anxiety and chronic pain.

This story is developing and will be updated.