Patrick: Abbott regulating THC puts Texas on path to become 'another failed Colorado'

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(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order to regulate THC, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who led the charge to ban it, says creates “a pathway that could open the door to recreational marijuana in our state. We do not want to be another failed Colorado.”

The Republican-led legislature, Republican Party of Texas and majority of Republican voters support a THC ban, oppose regulating it and legalizing marijuana, and argue shops selling THC are doing so illegally. Texas law enforcement, the Texas Pediatric Society and Texas Medical Association support a ban.

Earlier this year, the state legislature passed SB 3 to ban THC in Texas, which Abbott vetoed. He then added regulating THC to the first and second special session agendas, including banning the sale of THC products to customers under age 21, effectively legalizing it. The legislature refused to do so. In both special sessions, the Texas Senate passed the same THC ban in opposition to Abbott, The Center Square reported.

After the second special session ended, Abbott issued an executive order directing state agencies to take “immediate action to protect Texas children from hemp-derived products, while respecting federal law and protecting the liberties of responsible adults.” He claims the order will ensure children “are kept safe and parents have peace of mind now, and that consumers know the products they purchase are tested and labeled responsibly.” Earlier this year, parents overwhelmingly testified in support of a full THC ban.

The order bans THC sales to minors; requires age verification using a government-issued ID; requires state agency oversight of testing and labeling; increases licensing fees “to facilitate enforcement;” requires agencies to coordinate and increase enforcement statewide with local law enforcement and to begin the process to create a comprehensive regulatory model to “provide a safe, transparent, and enforceable system that cracks down on abuse while preserving adult access to legal products.”

Patrick said the order “sent a signal to the THC industry that they have a state seal of approval on the current THC market. … These are the same people who have been selling dangerous THC products to kids and teens for the last four years in thousands of locations across Texas. They will continue to do so under this executive order without a ban. They are the ones who purposefully built their stores close to schools to target our kids.”

While retail shops claim they only sell their products to people over age 21, Patrick said, “we know that is a lie. Almost every THC product they have on the shelf today is still illegal, often grossly mislabeled with ingredients unknown to the buyer.”

He also reiterated what he has said all year, “The Texas Legislature never voted to legalize recreational marijuana or the intoxicating THC products now sold at nearly 9,000 locations across the state. Recreational marijuana is still illegal in Texas. However, because an unscrupulous industry has exploited a loophole in the hemp law, they are now selling highly potent and dangerous THC products to our kids and all Texans alike.”

Age limits don’t prohibit underage drinking or smoking, Patrick notes. The difference with THC products is they “can cause irreversible damage to a young person’s mind forever” and could kill them, he said.

He also identifies problems with Abbott’s order noting it doesn’t prohibit “the continued manufacture and sale of dangerous intoxicating synthetic THC products, like Delta 8 and Delta 10; the current and continued sale of products containing dangerously potent levels of Delta 9 THC; stores from maintaining their current locations near schools.”

It also “reflects a distrust of the industry; otherwise, the order would not propose setting up a massive taxpayer-funded program to regulate and inspect every step of the process, from growing, to packaging, and to selling THC at the retail level,” he said. It anticipates customers will drive intoxicated on THC, commit intoxication-related crimes and an unlawful resale market will reach minors because it directs state agencies “to study ways to prevent and prosecute those crimes,” he argues. It also “anticipates local law enforcement will not be enough to keep law breakers in check, and will require the assistance of state police and multiple law enforcement agencies” statewide.

“The governor mentions in his executive order that he wants people 21 and over to ‘enjoy’ THC. For most people who buy these products, ‘enjoy’ means getting high. If they are not getting high, why are they buying any THC product?” Patrick asked.

He said in his and Burrows’ discussions with Abbott prior to the second special session ending, they reached an agreement “to prohibit smoke shops, convenience stores with gas pumps, and corner stores from selling any THC product,” to ban all smokable THC products, all Delta 8 and Delta 10 synthetic products, and only allow Texas-grown consumable hemp products to be sold in retail stores. “The executive order does none of this. Most of the issues in the executive order are left for agencies to look at in the future,” Patrick said.

Abbott’s order erroneously claims a 2018 Farm Bill prevents states from banning THC when the opposite is true, Patrick argues, The Center Square reported. Abbott’s view on this “is simply incorrect. If so, all states would be federally required to legalize and regulate THC, the key ingredient in marijuana,” Patrick said, citing Fourth, Seventh and Eighth circuit appellate court rulings.