Texas GOP Governor ‘Wants To Legalize Recreational Marijuana,’ Lieutenant Governor Claims

The governor of Texas “wants to legalize recreational marijuana,” the
second highest official in the state said following the veto of a bill that
would’ve banned hemp products containing THC—while implying that Gov. Greg
Abbott (R) lied about his motivations for blocking the prohibition and
recommending an alternative regulatory framework instead.

In a somewhat surprising rebuke of Abbott, the lieutenant governor held a
press briefing on Monday where he sharply criticized his counterpart over
the veto and related proclamation where he put forward various
recommendations for regulating hemp. At several points, Lt. Gov. Dan
Patrick (R) explicitly accused the governor of wanting to legalize
adult-use cannabis because he rejected the hemp legislation.

“It puzzles me why my friend Greg Abbott—Governor Abbott—would at the last
minute, at about 22 minutes after [11:00PM CT], decided to veto this bill,”
the lieutenant governor said, referring to the midnight deadline for the
governor to act on the bill on Sunday. “I know he gave the reasons in his
proclamation, but our team simply doesn’t agree with those reasons.”

“One can only come to this conclusion, which surprises me: The governor of
the state of Texas wants to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas,” he
said. “That’s the headline, folks. Because that’s what his proclamation
does now—whether it’s unintentional and he didn’t think through it, or
whether it’s intentional—that’s the result of the veto.”

“Again, what Governor Abbott proposes is for us to legalize marijuana in
Texas by regulating it,” Patrick said.

Taking questions from reporters, the lieutenant governor expressly
challenged the governor to “put out a statement that you do not want to
legalize marijuana for adults in the state of Texas, because that’s what
either by default you’re doing or on purpose you’re doing.”

He also challenged the underlying legal argument Abbott described in his
veto message, explaining that the federal law that legalized hemp provides
that states can take steps to enact more restrictive regulations and he
disputed the governor’s position that the law would ultimately be nullified
in court due to litigation.

“Since when did we care who sued us when we passed a bill?” he said.

“What the federal law says is we can ban it. The only thing we can’t do is
stop transportation through the state. You know, he actually mentions that
in his proclamation,” Patrick said. “He mentions that one of the problems
with this bill is about stopping transportation—but he didn’t write the
entire sentence. He’s a lawyer, not me. It says you can’t pass a bill to
ban transportation through a state.”

“That’s not what he wrote [about the state’s medical marijuana] program,”
he said, referring to separate legislation to expand the state’s medical
cannabis law that Abbott approved over the weekend. “He signed that bill.
That’s worthless now.”

“What puzzled me was, the last time I talked to the governor in the Capitol
before session, he said, ‘Don’t worry about the bill.’ He said, ‘Your bill
is fine.’ That’s what he told me in front of witnesses,” the lieutenant
governor said. “In fact, he asked a couple of lawyers on my staff—he said,
‘Can you give me some answers I can give because, when I sign this, I need
some answers to give.’ So what happened? Who convinced him? On the staff,
on the outside, to kill Senate Bill 3?”

It should be noted that, while the lieutenant governor is evidently irate
over the veto and leveling accusations that Abbott is tacitly endorsing
adult-use legalization, the governor had made clear he opposes that
reform—and he’s even pushed back against local efforts to simply
decriminalize cannabis for adults.

In his veto message, the governor did say that, rather than outright ban
consumable hemp products, lawmakers should establish a regulatory framework
that treats cannabinoids “similar to the way alcohol is regulated.”

Abbott proposed an extensive list of policy changes that he says he would
support—and which the legislature will have the chance to enact during a
special session the governor is convening next month.

“Legislators could consider a structure similar to the way alcohol is
regulated, with strict enforcement by an agency like the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission,” he said, adding a list of recommended policies he
wants to see lawmakers adopt that include age restrictions, zoning
requirements and bans on public consumption.

Abbott on Sunday called a special session of a legislature to begin on July
21, saying in a press release that SB 3 and other vetoed bills would be
placed on the agenda for further consideration.

Hemp advocates and stakeholders had delivered more than 100,000 petition
signatures asking Abbott to veto the measure. Critics of the bill argued
that the industry—which employs an estimated 53,000 people—would be
decimated if the measure became law.

Texas lawmakers legalized the sale of consumable hemp in 2019, following
enactment of the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which legalized the plant
nationwide. That’s led to an explosion of products—including edibles,
drinks, vape products and cured flower—sold by an estimated 8,000 retailers.

Military veterans advocates, including Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, have
also called on the governor to veto the hemp ban, saying it “would cause
irreversible harm to communities across the state.”

Farmers have also said the prohibition would devastate a key sector of the
state’s agriculture industry.

Meanwhile, a recent survey from a GOP pollster affiliated with President
Donald Trump showed that Texas Democratic and Republican voters are unified
in their opposition to the hemp ban bill.

Another poll commissioned the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC) found that Texas
Republican primary voters oppose the proposal.

On Saturday, the governor signed bill to significantly expand the state’s
medical marijuana program with new qualifying conditions additional product
forms and more dispensary locations.


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Abbott separately signed a bill into law this month to create a
state-backed research consortium to conduct clinical trials on ibogaine as
a possible treatment for substance use disorders and other mental health
conditions. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop the psychedelic
into a prescription drug with federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approval, with the state retaining a portion of the profit.

The measure expands the state’s list of medical cannabis qualifying
conditions to include chronic pain, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Crohn’s
disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases, while also allowing
end-of-life patients in palliative or hospice care to use marijuana.

Separately in Texas, a House committee approved a Senate-passed bill last
month that would prohibit cities from putting any citizen initiative on
local ballots that would decriminalize marijuana or other controlled
substances—as several localities have already done despite lawsuits from
the state attorney general.

Under the proposal, state law would be amended to say that local entities
“may not place an item on a ballot, including a municipal charter or
charter amendment, that would provide that the local entity will not fully
enforce” state drug laws.

While several courts have previously upheld local cannabis
decriminalization laws, an appellate court comprised of three conservative
justices appointed by the governor has recently pushed back against two of
those rulings, siding with the state in its legal challenge to the
marijuana policy in Austin and San Marcos.

Despite the ongoing litigation and advancement of the House and Senate
bills, Texas activists have their targets set on yet another city, Kyle,
where they hope put an initiative before voters to enact local marijuana
reform at the ballot this coming November.

A recent poll found that four in five Texas voters want to see marijuana
legalized in some form, and most also want to see regulations around
cannabis relaxed.

Alabama Cannabis Regulators Grant Medical Marijuana Testing License To
Foley-Based Lab

*Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.*

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Lieutenant Governor Claims appeared first on Marijuana Moment.