{"id":1688,"date":"2025-05-23T14:06:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/?p=1688"},"modified":"2025-05-23T14:51:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:51:59","slug":"texas-house-changed-sb-3-dramatically-before-a-late-night-amendment-slashed-it-to-match-senates-version-for-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/2025\/05\/23\/texas-house-changed-sb-3-dramatically-before-a-late-night-amendment-slashed-it-to-match-senates-version-for-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas House Changed SB 3 Dramatically\u2026 before a Late-Night Amendment Slashed it to Match Senate\u2019s Version for Approval"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The complete ban on consumable hemp will soon head to Governor Abbott\u2019s desk and go into effect September 1, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two months and three public hearings lead to an SB 3 that still allowed the sale of consumables with 2018 Farm Bill-levels of THC, excluding vapes. The House Committee on State Affairs, chaired by the author of its version of SB 3 Rep. Ken King (R-88) aimed to regulate low-THC hemp, rather than ban it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI read about the 1920s. I don\u2019t think Prohibition worked in [the] 1920[s]. It\u2019s not gonna work in [the] 2020[s].\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. King offered his counter option after considering the failure of Prohibition in the United States. As advocates and businessowners in the hemp industry started to believe that the House would pass the \u201cregulation instead of elimination\u201d version of SB 3, however, Rep. Oliverson (R-130) introduced an amendment that set SB 3 back to its original, senate-approved form. The amendment bans consumable hemp with any trace of THC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a physician, I cannot in good conscience support a system where Texans self-medicate with unregulated, inconsistent and highly potent intoxicants.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Oliverson was met with over an hour of discussion, during which many members stated plainly that Texans will still have options for hemp and cannabis if a total ban is approved\u2014but those options will be found underground and from the illicit market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Rep. James Talarico (D-50), \u201cThis ban is a gift to the cartels.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Talarico was a final speaker in opposition before the third and final vote to approve SB 3. After discussing how helpful SB 3 will be to cartels, he stressed the importance of legal hemp to adults looking to relax, seniors looking to manage chronic pain, and veterans looking to manage symptoms of PTSD. Despite Rep. Talarico\u2019s message, House Representatives approved Rep. Oliverson\u2019s amendment before approving the final version of SB 3 with a 95-44 vote. Though SB 3 will travel through the Senate again because of the addition of a \u201cstair-step\u201d approach to enforcement and punishment, its original author, Senator Perry (R-28) announced his support for the minor changes while Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick thanked the House for approving the bill and \u201cprotect[ing] Texas children and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will continue to monitor and provide updates on the status of SB 3, particularly as businesses and industry leaders begin responding to the new law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The complete ban on consumable hemp will soon head to Governor Abbott\u2019s desk and go into effect September 1, 2025. Two months and three public hearings lead to an SB 3 that still allowed the sale of consumables with 2018 Farm Bill-levels of THC, excluding vapes. The House Committee on State Affairs, chaired by the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Texas House Changed SB 3 Dramatically\u2026 before a Late-Night Amendment Slashed it to Match Senate\u2019s Version for Approval”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10,172,1109,650,1101],"ppma_author":[1098],"class_list":["post-1688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-cannabis-law","tag-hemp","tag-sb-3","tag-texas","tag-tim-stafford"],"authors":[{"term_id":1098,"user_id":718,"is_guest":0,"slug":"txstafford","display_name":"Tim Stafford","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/03\/staffordtim-100x100.jpg","author_category":"","last_name":"Stafford","first_name":"Timothy","job_title":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/attorneys\/timstafford.html","description":"Read Tim's bio.<\/a>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1688"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}