Lack of cannabis regulation sparks debate in East Texas

TYLER — The hemp market in Texas is growing and with it comes competition to get products on the shelves first. According to our news partner KETK, some of the most popular items found on shelves are delta-8 and 9, which are different versions of THC, a cannabinoid found in a cannabis plant. Both naturally occur in marijuana with delta-9 being more potent.

“The majority of the delta-8 or virtually all the delta-8 that you’re finding in products is manufactured from CBD,” Leo Welder, a strategic consultant, said.

Welder a consultant with LJW3 Operating, owned his own cannabis and hemp testing lab in California before moving back to Texas. He said California had stricter rules on what hit the shelves, but Texas is lacking in that department.

“Here in Texas, there is no regulation regarding testing and there’s no oversight,” Welder said.

He said there were many items that claimed to be safe or had certain amounts of THC, but the ingredients on the label did or didn’t match even if there was a lab report connected to the product.

“There’s no way to draw a connection between the product that you’re consuming and that lab report, that lab report could be from any product, it’s just a report that they’ve said is connected to that product,” Welder said.

That’s why Welder and a group of scientists started testing some of the merchandise, and the results shocked them. He said they found trace amounts of pesticides that were illegal in California.

“It had over 14 times the allowable limit of one of those pesticides, and further, it had a toxic mold aspergillus contaminating the product,” Welder said.

The conversation on delta-8 and 9 is no stranger at the capitol, and now Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is looking to ban them altogether. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller agreed that something needs to be done.

“We need to dig into that to get the facts and see what where we go from there,” Miller said.

KETK contacted several lawmakers from East Texas about this debate and most of them said they continue to research the issue.

State Representative Jay Dean sent KETK a statement saying he is ready to work with his colleagues in the House and Senate to keep Texas safe.

“In 2017, I passed legislation to ensure we were protected from synthetic drugs and making it harder for manufacturers to circumvent criminal laws,” Dean said. “We absolutely should continue studying these substances.”