Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a bill Sunday to ban all THC consumables, allowing the booming market flush with THC-infused vapes, gummies and other products to continue to be sold across the state.

Abbott, a Republican, waited until the final moment to veto SB3 in what would have been one of the most restrictive THC bans in the country and a significant blow to the state’s billion-dollar industry.

The THC ban was one of 28 bills the governor’s office said he vetoed from this session. Abbott then called for a special session to begin July 21 and placed SB3 and five other bills on the agenda for further consideration.

Senate Bill 3: Relating to the regulation of products derived from hemp, including consumable hemp products and the hemp-derived cannabinoids contained in those products.
Senate Bill 648: Relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property.
Senate Bill 1253: Relating to impact and production fees for certain water projects and to the regulation of certain wells; authorizing a fee.
Senate Bill 1278: Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution.
Senate Bill 1758: Relating to the operation of a cement kiln and the production of aggregates near a semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility. (This bill was not vetoed, but was filed without the governor’s signature.)
Senate Bill 2878: Relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government.

“Working with the Texas Legislature, we delivered results that will benefit Texans for generations to come,” said Abbott. “Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, and the Texas House and Senate worked hard to send critical legislation to my desk. This session has seen monumental success, but there is more we can do.”

In Texas, the governor has the full authority to call as many special sessions as desired and the governor sets the agendas for those sessions. The sessions can be as long as 30 days and legislators are not allowed to take up any other business than what’s on the governor’s agenda. When the session expires, the governor can call another special session if he wishes.

Abbott wants hemp to be immediately regulated in Texas and says the state can’t criminalize what Congress has legalized

In a proclamation about the veto of SB3, Abbott said the bill would face constitutional challenges and that Texas must instead immediately regulate hemp. The governor said a current challenge to a similar law in Arkansas attempts to criminalize products Congress legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill and that SB3 was vulnerable to the same legal attacks.

“It therefore criminalizes what Congress expressly legalized and puts federal and state law on a collision course: Today, federal law promises Texas farmers that they may grow hemp without fear of criminal liability,” Abbott wrote. “What’s a Texas farmer to do? Trust the federal government’s promise or fear criminal liability from the state?”

The governor also said SB3 would make felons out of anyone possessing any amount of THC, despite a federal law saying “no state shall prohibit the transportation of hemp products.”

“Allowing SB3 to become law — knowing that it faces a lengthy battle that will render it dead on arrival in court — would hinder rather than help us solve the public safety issues this bill seeks to contain,” Abbott wrote.

The governor said he wants the state legislature to create a law that aligns with federal law but has a fully-funded enforcement structure to protect public safety, much the same way the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission regulates alcohol.

Lt. Gov. Patrick puzzled by veto, says Gov. Abbott wants to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who championed SB3 and said it would prevent unregulated poison from being sold to kids and adults, held a news conference at the State Capitol building Monday afternoon to talk about the veto and the bill he said the legislature is now tasked with writing in the special session.

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

Patrick said the regulation and enforcement of the more than 8,000 retailers selling THC products in the state was unrealistic and that he still believes the products should be banned outright.

“You can’t regulate 8 to 9,000 locations. We do not have enough law enforcement to do so,” Patrick said. “What do you regulate? You regulate things that are legal. I’m stunned that he wants to legalize marijuana in the state of Texas.”

Patrick said SB3 had the support of not only state legislators but also police departments and medical professionals. Patrick said Abbott gave him the impression he was going to sign SB3 into law, and that it puzzled him why he vetoed the bill.

“What puzzled me was the last time I talked to the governor in the Capitol before the 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,” Patrick said.

Patrick said his team believes federal law allows the state to ban the products or be more stringent and that all the state was prohibited from doing by Congress was stopping the transportation of hemp through the state.

“I will not sign a bill that legalizes marijuana in Texas. I will not gavel it down because that’s what he’s asking the legislature to do,” Patrick said. “If we don’t pass a bill that regulates hemp, marijuana … then the status quo continues in those 8,000 shops.”

SB3 vetoed by Gov. Abbott

SB3 would have made it a misdemeanor to own, manufacture or sell consumable THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, products and was the latest push by states to regulate THC after a 2018 federal law allowed states to regulate hemp, a similar plant to marijuana that can be synthetically processed to produce THC, the compound giving marijuana its psychoactive properties.

Loopholes in existing law have allowed many THC-infused goods to enter the market across the country, including states with strict marijuana laws.

Texas has some of the strictest marijuana laws in the country, prohibiting all recreational use and providing a limited medical marijuana program. The consumables market has allowed residents to access goods legally, giving a similar high to marijuana.

Republican lawmakers have criticized the products as dangerous due to a lack of federal oversight in how the goods are manufactured. Texas’ ban is one of the more far-reaching among states that have taken similar steps. Several states, including California, have imposed age limits and restrictions on the potency of THC products.

Critics of the Texas bill said it allows people who cannot access marijuana through the state’s medical marijuana program to acquire goods that can provide a similar relief. Many retailers across the state also highlighted the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue the industry generates each year.

Last year, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would have put age restrictions on THC consumables, claiming it would hurt small businesses.