Delta-8 hemp and Texas medical marijuana industries face off in upcoming session

AUSTIN (AP) – A potential showdown is brewing between the medical cannabis market and the hemp industry in Texas as both are looking to lawmakers to determine the future.

States like Colorado and California, where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, are putting tighter restrictions on hemp products as a way to rein in access and force more health and safety accountability on the industry.

After his 2019 agricultural hemp legislation helped open up Texas’s hemp industry, state Sen. Charles Perry is now attempting to close it again, as legal weed-style products were never his intention. He suggested an outright ban on the consumable hemp market last week during a State Affairs Committee hearing.

“’If you can’t regulate it, control it, and enforce it, you just don’t allow it to happen,” Perry said.

Perry and other lawmakers have been particularly interested in regulating consumable THC products that can come in drink form. This makes it much more difficult for parents, teachers, law enforcement, and others to tell the difference between a regular drink and one that has been infused with THC.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gave senators a list of legislative directives for the next session, and a prime target is a ban on delta-8 products. He suggested to lawmakers that the state examine the sales of intoxicating hemp products in Texas, make recommendations to regulate the sale of these products, and propose legislation to stop retailers who market these products to children.

The Texas Department of State Health Services also filed a case before the state’s Supreme Court in August to classify delta-8 as an illegal substance. While the case is pending, delta-8 is still legal to buy and sell.

The Texas hemp industry has argued in court that delta-8’s high is minimal, and if delta-8 and delta-9 products are banned, it would do irreparable harm to the industry and the state’s economy.

“Any bans or excessive legislation of hemp-derived cannabinoids, as suggested by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and others, will negatively impact an industry that has an $8 billion economic impact, pays $1.6 billion in annual wages, and supports more than 50,000 workers,” said Lukas Gilkey, CEO and co-founder of Hometown Hero, the company who filed a suit against the state and is defending the hemp industry in the state’s Supreme Court.