The Texas Senate voted tonight to approve Senate Bill 3, which would ban hemp-derived THC products, sending the measure to Governor Greg Abbott for consideration.
Hemp THC gummies.
SB 3, which previously passed the Senate in March, was passed this week by the full House. Given the House approved amendments to the bill, it went back to the Senate for final approval, which they gave Sunday night.
The proposed law would outlaw most edibles, beverages, tinctures, and vape products that contain any meaningful amount of THC, with limited exceptions for trace-level products. The House had initially sought to revise the bill to create a regulatory framework for these products. However, a floor amendment reversed that approach, returning it to the Senate as a ban similar to the original Senate version.
By voting to accept the House’s amendments, the Senate has finalized the legislation just days before the session ends on June 2. The bill now heads to Governor Abbott’s desk, where he can choose to sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.
Opponents of the bill say that it will kill a multi-billion dollar industry that employs thousands of people throughout Texas. They also argue that many people, especially veterans, use hemp-derived THC as a medical product, given the state’s medical cannabis program is severely limited. Supporters of the bill say it will close a loophole put in place by the 2018 federal farm bill, which legalized hemp nationwide.
