Gov. Greg Abbott can’t be enjoying all this.
On one side, his powerful lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, is foaming at the mouth to rid Texas of THC products, waving candy-flavored edibles around like they’re contraband at a kindergarten show-and-tell. On the other, you’ve got hemp farmers, military veterans, and people who like sleeping through the night without pharmaceutical-grade sedation, all begging Abbott to kill the bill before it bans their legally consumable chill.
Welcome to the great Texas cannabis standoff of 2025, starring Senate Bill 3, a legislative grenade lobbed into the state’s $5.5 billion hemp industry. If Abbott signs it, Delta-8, THC seltzers, vapes, gummies, and anything else that might take the edge off the Dan Patrick Experience could be toast.
Abbott also risks angering veterans, farmers, and libertarian-leaning conservatives. Veto it, though, and Abott incurs the wrath of Patrick, who has made banning THC a personal crusade — and possibly a branding opportunity.
While Patrick insists this is about saving children from rainbow-colored gateway drugs, critics say it’s more about political chest-thumping than public health. And based on the data — including polling that shows a majority of Republicans want looser or unchanged cannabis laws — it seems the public isn’t exactly rallying for stricter THC crackdowns.
Patrick held a panicky press conference last week where he ranted to the media about the horrors of a substance that might make you mash up Pink Floyd with “The Wizard of Oz.”
“You might buy them and not even know that you’re getting your kid high on drugs and hooked for life!” he declared, standing before a table of cannabis products that looked embarrassed to be there.
He also insisted he wasn’t worried about Abbott’s decision. OK, man.
Meanwhile, the Texas Hemp Business Council rolled out the protest equivalent of a mic drop: 5,000 letters to Abbott’s office, a petition with 120,000 signatures, a sixth-generation farmer, and two military veterans. (Honestly, all they were missing was a bald eagle in a cowboy hat.)
One of those veterans, Dave Walden, laid it out in stark terms: prescription opioids nearly killed him; THC gummies brought him back. “Let’s stop pretending this is about public safety,” he said, per the Texas Tribune. “This is about control and veterans are caught in the crossfire.”
The anti-ban crowd warns that if legal THC products vanish, a thriving black market will rise up (again) to replace them. Also, they argue, banning hemp-derived THC could make Texas look unfriendly to business — the hemp industry employs an estimated 53,000 Texans — which is basically like kicking a puppy in the Lone Star State.
Some conservative influencers also aren’t amused.
So now, all eyes are on Abbott, who has less than three weeks to decide: Will he sign the ban, veto it, or just let it become law by ghosting it into existence?
For now, he’s staying silent, possibly dodging both Dan Patrick’s calls and hemp lobbyists bearing fruit snacks.
One thing’s for sure: no matter what he does, someone’s going to be mad — and probably not just because they ran out of gummies.