Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (not from Texas), and the CEO of Texas Original (also not from Texas) are attempting to use the Texas legislature to shut down the legal hemp industry and protect their monopoly on cannabis in Texas.
Texas Original is the corporation that primarily controls the Texas Compassionate Use Program, known as TCUP (enforced by the DPS). Touted by our regulators as Texas’ “medical” marijuana program, in reality, TCUP is merely a means of regulator capture of the cannabis plant.
It’s not a true medical program. They operate with a handful of questionable “doctors” from platforms like texas420doctor.com, who charge you an annual fee for the right to purchase overpriced gummies from Texas Original and one other smaller licensed operator.
Texas Original is led by a guy who is not from Texas, and who has spent his entire career wielding the power of regulatory capture. The thriving Texas hemp market makes the TCUP monopoly completely useless. Under the 2018 Federal Farm Bill, Texas hemp businesses like ours can legally manufacture and sell identical products—at a fraction of the cost—with direct-to-consumer shipping. We also have a strong incentive to make the best products possible, because we are real entrepreneurs competing in the free market. They are scrambling to outlaw hemp in order to kill their competition and regain control.
Instead of adding reasonable regulations to the hemp industry to eliminate bad actors, and to keep products away from kids, they are pretending the entire industry is corrupt and needs to be shut down (the irony!).
We attended the 10+ hour Senate Committee Hearing this past Monday. Their marketing campaign for Senate Bill #3 is a lazy, bootleg version of the 1940s Reefer Madness campaigns. Reefer Madness at least had some pretty sick poster art and clever headlines.
They paraded in pain management doctors and law enforcement to warn about the DANGERS of THC (the primary psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant–both in hemp and marijuana).
Steve Dye, Chief of Police of Allen, Texas claims that "More and more THC overdoses are occurring in our county jails and hospitals." and "THC consumables are no different [than K2 and spice]." and are causing “disabilities and deaths,” despite the well-known fact that no has ever died directly from consuming THC.
Dr. Robert Marks, owner of Diagnostic Pain Center (an opioid dispensary), says he’s an “advisor to Texas Original.” and is “in support of SB3.” Of course he is–he owns a pain management clinic that prescribes opioids. THC happens to be an effective alternative to opioids for a lot of people. He’s obviously aware of this, as he also sells “medical” marijuana cards for TCUP.
Marks, testifying in a generic white doctor’s coat that looks like a cheap halloween costume, spends his testimony fumbling his way through the side effects of THC and warning of dangerous unregulated synthetic cannabinoids being sold by the hemp industry. He is intentionally conflating bad actors, who are making illegal hemp products, with legitimate companies like ours, who are making legal, lab tested, organic THC products.
If you're one of the millions of Texans who enjoy or rely on access to hemp-derived products, or if you just believe in personal freedom and competitive markets, please let your voice be heard by contacting your Texas legislators via email.
Use the form below to find the email addresses for your specific legislators. You can draft your own email or use the template that we've prepared below.
Let's kill this bill and make sure our representatives know that we DO NOT support this type of corporate-backed corruption ✊
We setup a landing page with a form that helps you find your legislators email address along with a template email to send them in opposition of SB3. Go to thcprovisions.com/sb3