Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently held a press conference on SB 3, a bill to ban all hemp products with cannabinoids other than cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) in Texas. An expert on drug policy from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy is available to explain the bill and comment on the implications of the policy.
Katharine Neill Harris, the Alfred C. Glassell III Fellow in Drug Policy, said that Patrick raised important issues regarding safety lapses in the current market, including an excess of retail locations, the frequency with which these locations are near schools and the proliferation of untested and highly potent products. However, banning the sale of hemp products with any detectable amount of THC would very likely bring forth an illicit market for these products, where they would be unregulated and more harmful, she said.
"SB 3 contains many necessary provisions, including prohibition on the sale and advertising of hemp products to individuals under 21 and improving product testing standards," Harris said. "It would also likely lead to the shuttering of many businesses that sell hemp products, a necessary correction to the current glut of over 8,000 state-licensed retailers.
"However, SB 3 does not just ban THC but all cannabinoids except for the nonimpairing cannabidiol and cannabigerol. This is a key difference. There are thousands of cannabinoids in the hemp plant, many of them nonimpairing, and chemistry experts testified during the State Affairs Committee hearing that this language will make manufacturing and testing of remaining legal products nearly impossible. This raises questions about the workability of the current bill.
"SB 3 also would make possession of hemp products with any amount of THC a Class A misdemeanor, a penalty more serious than the current penalty for possessing up to 2 ounces of marijuana. This could result in detrimental legal consequences for individuals, particularly for the very same young people that Sen. (Charles) Perry and Lt. Gov. Patrick want to protect with SB 3."
