Hemp was legalized federally in 2018 and in Texas in 2019. The federal and state laws say that cannabis with 0.3% delta-9 THC or less is considered hemp and is legal. Delta-9 is the key ingredient in weed that gets users high. It’s often referred to simply as THC. Cannabis with more than 0.3% delta-9 is considered marijuana. However, these laws didn’t say anything about other forms of THC that can be created from the hemp plant, like delta-8, which has similar, but milder effects compared to regular THC (delta-9).
So, companies started making products with high levels of different forms of THC, like delta-8, that could get users high. The manufacturers argue that as long as their products don’t have more than 0.3% delta-9, they’re legally in the clear. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration have put out advisories about these products, warning about adverse effects and stating that the way they're made could cause them to be contaminated with harmful materials.
Ever since these products started to take hold in hemp markets across the country, lawmakers such as Texas state Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, have been trying to close this supposed loophole in the law. Perry’s Senate Bill 264 and its House companion are just the latest attempts to do so. The companion is House Bill 4238, filed by Rep. Stephanie Klick, a Fort Worth Republican. Perry and Klick’s offices didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Neither of these bills have made it out of their respective committees, but hemp-derived THC isomers aren’t out of the woods yet, cannabis advocates say.
“With each day that passes, it's looking more and more likely that SB 264 will not make it through the process,” Zachary Maxwell, president of Texas Hemp Growers, told the Observer. “Of course, I don't want to count chickens before they hatch, because a lot can happen in the next three weeks,” he said. “But the fact is that apparently Perry's office is having issues getting language agreeable for a committee hearing.”
Daryoush Austin Zamhariri, creator and chief editor of the Fort Worth-based Texas Cannabis Collective news site, said much the same. “They are likely dead,” he said of Perry and Klick’s bills.“At this point, it could go under any cannabis-related bill." – Daryoush Austin Zamhariri, Texas Cannabis Collective
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But he and Maxwell worry that other cannabis-related bills could be amended to achieve the same goals as SB 264 and HB 4238. And there are some promising cannabis reform bills this legislative session that a hemp-derived THC isomer ban could easily be thrown into.
“At this point, it could go under any cannabis-related bill,” Zamhariri said.
There’s House Bill 1805, also filed by Klick, which would expand the state’s medical marijuana program by adding more qualifying conditions. Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Harris County Republican, filed House Bill 2818 to expand the state’s hemp program. It’s another likely candidate for last-minute language that could ban hemp-derived THC isomers across Texas.
“[Klick’s] bill is most likely the spot language from 264 gets added, as her and Perry have very openly and clearly been working together,” Zamhariri said. “Once one of these cannabis bills gets a hearing, we will have a magnifying lens on any language changes.”
