A bill banning THC passed in the Texas House late Wednesday night. 

In a 95-44 vote, Senate Bill 3 passed in the House, banning all THC products. Adults would face up to a year in jail for possessing any THC product.

THC is an $8 billion industry in Texas; Critics have said that many local businesses will be impacted by the ban. 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who championed the bill, thanked lawmakers for passing the bill and said it’s about protecting kids and adults.

“We are deeply disappointed by the Texas House’s passage of [SB3], a bill that dismantles the legal hemp industry and ignores the voices of small businesses, farmers, veterans and consumers across the state who rely on hemp-derived products for their livelihoods and well-being,” the Texas Hemp Business Council said in a statement after the vote.

What does the THC ban include?

SB 3, authored by Sen. Charles Perry, bans Delta 8, Delta 9 and all other forms of intoxicating THC, including beverages. It also prohibits the retail sale of any cannabinoid in the state, with the exception of CBD and CBG. Patrick has previously said the bill does not affect Texas’ Compassionate Use Program.

Over the past decade, thousands of CBD shops have opened across Texas, selling cannabis products with varying levels of THC, which has a psychoactive effect. 

When federal (The Hemp Farming Act of 2018) and state (House Bill 1325 in 2019) laws legalized hemp with agricultural uses in mind, they differentiated it from illegal forms of cannabis by defining it as having 0.3% “delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol” or less. The laws didn’t explicitly cap other forms of THC, like delta-8 and delta-10, which aren’t naturally found in large quantities.

Cannabis companies jumped on the loophole, providing Texas retailers with products containing the alternative THC compounds.

“Since 2019, retailers across Texas have exploited a state agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of Tetrahydrocannabinol to Texans, including children,” Patrick said in a statement. “These stores which often target children with their marketing, have popped up across the state, threatening the safety of our communities. Today, the Texas Senate drew a line in the sand and passed SB 3 to ban all forms of intoxicating THC.”

“Texans don’t want this”

In March, hundreds visited the Capitol to hear arguments over the proposed ban with more than 170 people signing up to speak.

“Texans don’t want this,” said John Burk, the owner of Shell Shock CBD in Richardson, who was in Austin to testify. “Let us be. Let combat veterans be. If we want to have a blunt, it’s no different than having an old-fashioned [drink] and kicking back.”

Burk previously told CBS News Texas that veterans like himself use THC rather than more addictive opioids and that a ban on THC is not a true reflection of what the public wants.

THC vs CBD in cannabis products

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its sibling, cannabidiol (CBD), are produced by the same cannabis plant and have similar chemical structures but differ dramatically in their mechanisms of action and effects on brain functions, according to the National Institutes of Health. 

THC and CBD both have therapeutic properties, however, impairments and increased incidence of mental health diseases are associated with acute and chronic THC use, according to the NIH. 

NIH also said there are significant side effects are associated with chronic use of high-dose CBD. 

• Marijuana
• Texas Politics
• Texas
• Texas Legislature

Andrea Lucia and

contributed to this report.