Texas fans of THC products breathed a collective sigh of relief last month when Gov. Greg Abbott issued a last-minute veto for a bill that would have banned tetrahydrocannabinol — the psychoactive component in cannabis — in the state.
Now that the Texas Legislature’s special session is underway, they may be holding their collective breaths once again.
At the time of Abbott’s veto, the governor wrote that “legislators could consider a structure similar to the way alcohol is regulated.” THC is now one of a myriad of topics Abbott has asked lawmakers to tackle in this special session, which kicked off yesterday.
But the Texas Senate — and specifically, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — isn’t backing down.
Patrick, who’s seen as the leader of the movement to ban consumable hemp products containing THC, posted on X shortly before lawmakers gaveled in. He wrote that regulating the substance for those under 21 is merely a “backdoor way to legalize recreational marijuana.”
On Tuesday, the Senate’s State Affairs Committee began looking at Senate Bill 5. On its face, the legislation appears to regulate certain products derived from hemp.
But Nicholas Mortillaro, a chemical engineer who owns and operates retail hemp shops in Texas, said the proposal isn’t different from the bill Abbott already vetoed.
“They are trying to frame a ban as a regulatory bill, but SB 5 is a full ban,” Mortillaro told The Texas Newsroom. “They make exceptions for CBG and CBD, but the way they put basically any detectable level of THC effectively makes it a complete ban.”
Mortillaro came to the Texas Capitol to testify against the ban on Tuesday.
He told committee members he welcomes regulations like age-limits, child-resistant packaging, and others. But he thinks SB 5 goes too far and could kill “90 to 95%” of his business.
Law enforcement, doctors express support for a THC ban
Allen Chief of Police Steve Dye testified in the bill’s favor on behalf of the Texas Police Chiefs Association.
“No amount of personnel or resources in a state this large, with this many locations, will ever be effective in regulating these dangerous products,” Dye said. “Which is why the ban is the only viable solution to protect our community from these harmful products.”
Dye said one of the costliest issues with regulation would be testing products.
“Regulation would still require a quantitative test. And DPS [the Texas Department of Public Safety] labs are unable to timely handle testing due to the complexity,” said Dye.
Mortillaro disagrees.
“Finances should never be an impediment to effective, safe regulation,” he said. Mortillaro argued the tax money the state brings in from THC product sales brings should be enough to pay for the regulatory scheme.
Dr. Lindy McGee, a pediatrician in Houston, told lawmakers on Tuesday that she is seeing more teens using THC products in her practice.
“Unlike nicotine, we have no effective treatment for THC addiction,” McGee said.
McGee added that, if the state chooses to regulate products with THC, limiting sales of those products to Texans aged 21 and older shouldn’t be the starting point.
“I think what’s under-recognized is the crucial part of development that happens during the teenage years, or the young adult years as well,” McGee said. “And really that’s to age 21 or 25.”
If passed, a ban could face legal challenges
Abbott framed his veto of the previous THC ban — passed during the 2025 regular legislative session as Senate Bill 3 — as necessary because similar legislation in Arkansas was held up in court at the time.
The Arkansas legal challenge argued that a ban on such products, which Arkansas state lawmakers passed in 2023, was unconstitutional. That’s because these products are considered legal under the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. Abbott said the only way to avoid a similar outcome in Texas was to strictly regulate THC products, rather than banning them outright.
Since then, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court’s block on the Arkansas law.
Abbott’s veto proclamation also focused on Texas’s THC ban as worded amounting to an “unconstitutional taking.” Small store owners testifying against the legislation during the regular session outlined how many had sunk their life savings into their businesses, on the understanding that such businesses were legal under Texas law.
It also seems the governor’s own thoughts on a ban could be evolving.
Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying the governor’s current position, which suggests he may now be willing to support a ban as framed in the current Senate bill.
“Governor Abbott has been clear that Texas must do all we can to protect the lives of children while protecting the liberty of adults,” Mahaleris said. “Hemp products should be banned for those under the age of 21, with a full ban on extraordinarily dangerous synthetic products.”
Mahaleris added adults in Texas should only be able to access “heavily regulated, nonintoxicating levels of hemp,” and that the state should have “strict legal enforcement of hemp that exceeds 3.0 milligrams total THC per serving.”
Public pushback and veteran voices
Nicole D’Ortona, the communications director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, spoke on Tuesday to the breadth of the opposition to a blanket ban on THC products. She described meeting consumers, farmers, veterans, and small business owners who have come to rely on the legal sale of such products and who were disheartened when the Texas House approved SB 3 during the regular legislative session.
“Over the next three weeks, 150,000 Texans signed a petition opposing the ban,” D’Ortona said. “Over 8,000 people took time to hand-write letters to Gov. Abbott. Thousands more called, emailed, and engaged their elected officials. Three different statewide polls all point to the same conclusion: Texans know that prohibition does not work.”
Another who testified against the latest THC ban was Romana Harding, a naval veteran who said she had suffered from complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being raped and badly beaten during her time in uniform.
“This was a deep moral injury that led me to alcoholism and other hard drugs and strong suicidal ideation,” Harding said.
Michael Minasi
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KUT News
Harding told lawmakers of how her uncle, a World War II veteran, convinced her to switch from alcohol to cannabis after her brother died as a result of alcohol poisoning.
“Since then, alcohol has killed two of my brothers and both of my biological parents. In their name, I have switched to cannabis to save my life,” Harding said.
Harding said she has been in the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), which provides for the legal use of prescribed THC products, since it began. However, she said the products available under TCUP are too expensive. She noted the gummies she can currently purchase online legally for $16 cost $75 through TCUP.
“My doctor has prescribed me 1,800 milligrams per month to keep me alive, off of opiates and psychotropics,” Harding testified. “If this passes, I’m going to be illegally healed yet again.”
Patrick’s other priorities in the special session
While it seems like Patrick is not going to back down on banning THC, he appears to be in line with Abbott on most of the other ideas on the governor’s docket for the special session.
The full list of 16 bills — which haven’t all been filed yet — include flood-related items, congressional redistricting, and cutting property taxes.
Another issue on Patrick’s list expected to get a lot of attention in this special session is what the Lt. Gov calls “Protecting Unborn Children.” That measure is likely to prohibit or tighten the restrictions for shipping abortion pills into the state.
Also on the list is eliminating the STAAR Test, a standardized test administered to Texas public school students, and replacing it with several tests spread throughout the school year. The idea had some movement during the regular session but ultimately failed to reach the governor’s desk.
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