President Donald Trump signed a federal spending bill on Nov. 12 that included a provision banning the sale of tetrahydrocannabinol-infused products containing over 0.4 milligrams.
The measure, which ended the federal government shutdown, takes precedence over the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which legalized industrial hemp. Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a bill that would have banned all consumable THC-products in Texas because of “constitutional challenges” related to the 2018 Farm Bill, according to a news release. Previously, the legal limit of THC was 0.3% in any product. The new provision sets a maximum THC limit at 0.4 milligrams, regardless of the overall size of the product.
Businesses affected have a year to figure out how they will adapt to this new provision, according to the federal spending bill.
Mark Bordas, executive director for the Texas Hemp Business Council, an organization that lobbies for the hemp industry, said it is difficult to reach that low of a concentration of THC, and products with that level are largely undesirable to customers.
“When you look at that 0.4 milligrams language, it’s prohibition disguised as regulation,” Bordas said. “They would eliminate the hemp industry with that language if it stays there.”
According to a study by Whitney Economics, an economic consulting firm providing data for hemp investors, there is approximately a $5.5 billion hemp enterprise in Texas.
Nicholas Mortillaro, managing partner of LazyDaze, a cannabis-infused coffee shop franchise that has a location on Speedway, said THC-infused products make up about 60% of LazyDaze’s sales. He said some business owners are asking lawmakers to grant an 18-month extension to give them more time to figure out their next steps.
“Farmers need to be able to plan ahead nine months in advance in order to plant and harvest,” Mortillaro said. “By the time they’re able to harvest that crop, it’ll be effectively illegal, so they’ve just put those farmers completely out of business.”
THC products have been used for pharmaceutical reasons, and studies suggest cannabidiol can help with anxiety, insomnia and chronic pain related to inflammation, according to Harvard Medical School. However, THC is an addictive component of cannabis, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Mortillaro said cannabis will not be able to help with specific medical issues with the provision.
“It’s going to be catastrophic,” Mortillaro said. “What this is going to do is recriminalize cannabis in a way that’s just going to send people to jail, that’s going to add to that stigma that has been developed that we’ve been trying to push back on.”
Randy Erben, an adjunct professor at the UT School of Law, said the new provision was an “afterthought” included in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown. Erben said an effort to take out the provision failed. An amendment to remove the hemp provision was tabled by the U.S. Senate two days before the bill became law.
“(The provision) came out of the blue,” Erben said. “The pro-THC people were very excited about the developments in Texas … but the federal deal really surprised them, and it’s throwing things into major uncertainty here in Texas.”
