The Texas House is expected to pass Senate Bill 3, a blanket ban on all hemp-derived Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, products, torpedoing an $8 billion industry and threatening thousands of business owners across the state.
In 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that legalized the sale of products with less than 0.3% THC. In just five years, the industry exploded, with more than 8,500 hemp manufacturing and distribution license-holding businesses in the state.
But the legalization of hemp-derived THC products has been massively scrutinized by lawmakers and law enforcement alike, alleging that dangerously high-concentration products have slipped through the cracks and landed on store shelves. The claim isn’t completely unfounded. Following a series of smoke shop raids, the Allen Police Department seized products with potencies far beyond the legal limit more than once…