Texas Governor Vetoes Ban on Hemp Products, Calls For Special Session to Regulate THC

Consumable hemp products containing THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids will remain legal under Texas law after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed Senate Bill 3 on June 22—the last day for executive action on bills.

The legislation, spearheaded by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, would have led to the demise of an $8-billion industry that employs some 50,000 workers at roughly 8,000 Texas businesses that manufacture or sell hemp-derived products like delta-8 THC gummies and THCA liquid diamond vapes. Only nonintoxicating CBD and CBD would have remained legal under Patrick’s plan.

However, Abbott suggested in his veto proclamation that while S.B. 3 was “well-intentioned,” it would never go into effect because of constitutional challenges.

“Litigation challenging the bill has already been filed, and the legal defects in the bill are undeniable,” Abbott wrote. “If I were to allow Senate Bill 3 to become law, its enforcement would be enjoined for years, leaving existing abuse unaddressed. Texas cannot afford to wait.”

While the governor signed 1,155 bills that the Texas Legislature passed this legislative session, S.B. 3 was one of the 28 bills he vetoed; however, Abbott identified S.B. 3 as one of five bills that will be placed on the agenda for the upcoming special legislative session next month for further consideration.

As a former Texas Supreme Court justice and the state’s former attorney general, Abbott said his conclusion of S.B. 3 is not speculative. He compared it to an Arkansas bill that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed in April 2023 to ban intoxicating hemp products. A federal judge blocked the Arkansas ban in September 2023, and the law has remained dormant as legal proceedings unfold.

While the 2018 Farm Bill, which federally legalized hemp, allows states to enact more stringent regulations surrounding the plant, Abbott called into question whether states can recriminalize hemp-related acts that conflict with federal law.

“I know that Senate Bill 3 is vulnerable to the same legal attacks [as in Arkansas],” the governor wrote. “At worst, Senate Bill 3 would be permanently invalidated by the courts; at best, its implementation would be delayed for years as the case winds its way through the legal system. We can do better.”

By vetoing S.B. 3, Abbott sided with more than 150,000 petition signers who urged the governor to veto the legislation over the supermajority of Texas legislators who backed the bill, as well as law enforcement officials who called for his signature. The petition signers included veterans, business owners, farmers, industry leaders, and, perhaps more importantly, Texas voters.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel at industry advocacy organization U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said the governor’s veto sends a clear national message that “blanket” hemp bans are bad policy.

“Last night’s gubernatorial veto of hemp-killing S.B. 3 in Texas should prove to be a seminal moment for hemp farmers and businesses across the country,” Miller said in a statement provided to Cannabis Business Times. “Members of Congress, governors and state legislators must take notice that hemp bans are not only bad policy, but they are also deeply unpopular, even among the most conservative voters in a red state like Texas.”

With the Texas special session scheduled to begin July 21, Miller said the “correct” response is for lawmakers to regulate hemp products over a “misguided prohibition.”

State lawmakers who backed S.B. 3 did so in the name of public health and safety concerns, suggesting that Texas’ youth had unfettered access to intoxicating products in smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores. Patrick, who championed the bill as the presiding officer in the Texas Senate, continued to push for support for S.B. 3 even after its passage, suggesting in a May 28 press conference that hemp product manufacturers and retailers “are people that want to kill your kids. And they don’t give a damn.”

However, Patrick’s own experience visiting Austin-based hemp retailer Happy Cactus was very different just a few months ago, when he was carded and did not find any products with noncompliant serving sizes.

Patrick, who could become a political opponent who challenges Abbott’s pursuit of a fourth gubernatorial term in 2026, took issue with the governor’s veto

“Throughout the legislative session, @GregAbbott_TX remained totally silent on Senate Bill 3, the bill that would have banned dangerous THC products in Texas,” Patrick wrote June 23 on X. “His late-night veto, on an issue supported by 105 of 108 Republicans in the Legislature, strongly backed by law enforcement, many in the medical and education communities, and the families who have seen their loved ones’ lives destroyed by these very dangerous drugs, leaves them feeling abandoned. I feel especially bad for those who testified and poured their hearts out on their tragic losses. I will have much more to say at a press conference tomorrow in Austin.”

This represents a U-turn from May 28, when Patrick told reporters, “I’m not worried about the governor. I speak with the governor every day.”

Patrick also called a reporter’s question “stupid” that day when the lieutenant governor was pressed on the idea of more tightly regulating consumable hemp products over prohibition. “That’s crazy talk,” Patrick said.

After Patrick’s May 28 press conference, Lukas Gilkey, the CEO of Austin-based consumer-packaged goods brand Hometown Hero, accused the lieutenant governor of “spitting out lies” after Patrick held up a package of the company’s cereal bites, claiming “no one knows what’s in it.”

Gilkey posted a video on social media on that same day, explaining the product’s package had 10 individually wrapped pieces containing 20 milligrams of delta-9 THC, with a full list of ingredients on the back and a QR code for the certificate of analysis.

“[He’s] just spitting out lies like he always does,” Gilkey said. “He just held up one of our products, this exact product, and said it had 6,000 milligrams [of THC], which it does not. … It is very clearly stated what this is: 20 milligrams delta-9 THC and 20 milligrams CBD per piece. … There’s a COA, per state law in Texas, because this is a regulated product.”

In addition to prohibiting the manufacture and sale of hemp products with even trace amounts of THC, S.B. 3 would have made it a third-degree felony to deliver or possess with intent to deliver consumable hemp products with intoxicating cannabinoids. It would also be a third-degree felony to falsify laboratory reports or to possess, manufacture or sell the products without a license or registration.

Those convicted of third-degree felonies in Texas face two to 10 years imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine. Under current Texas law, possessing 4 ounces or less of cannabis is a misdemeanor with the possibility of up to one year behind bars.

In Sunday night’s veto proclamation, Abbott called S.B. 3’s language a legal problem, as the 2018 Farm Bill defines hemp as containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weigh basis during a pre-harvest field test. The federal legislation does not regulate finished goods. The U.S. Ninth and Fourth Circuit courts ruled this definition to be “unambiguous.”

“[S.B. 3] criminalizes what Congress expressly legalized and puts federal and state law on a collision course: Today, federal law promises Texas farmers that they may grow hemp without fear of criminal liability,” Abbott wrote. “But under Senate Bill 3, the seeds used to grow those plants are ‘consumable products’—currently available in stores—and they naturally contain cannabinoids. What’s a Texas farmer to do? Trust the federal government’s promise, or fear criminal liability from the state?”

As passed by the Texas Legislature, S.B. 3 would not only have been a criminal entrapment for Texas farmers, but it would have also criminalized “innocent” Texans, Abbot said, referring to pharmacists stocking health supplements, veterans treating post-traumatic stress disorder, and parents caring for epileptic children with medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Facing a potential “lengthy” legal battle, Abbott said S.B. 3 would have resulted in consequences opposite of its intent. Instead, the governor called on lawmakers to go back to the drawing board to craft a regulatory framework that protects public safety while also aligning with federal law.

The governor provided a sample list of 19 potential regulations that could work, including many suggestions that would more closely align the state’s hemp regulations with those of alcohol. The sample list is viewable here.

“Passing a law is not the same thing as actually solving a problem,” Abbott wrote. “Texas needs a bill that is enforceable and will make our communities safer today, rather than years from now.”