[[{“value”:”Since late last year, it looked likeTHC-infused beveragesin Texas would go the way of the Dodo bird.
For a little history, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the sale of hemp products with low levels of THC: up to 0.3% of delta-9 THC by weight. Soon, it seemed like vape shops popped up on every corner in the Lone Star State and Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has been none too happy about it.
“Dangerously, retailers exploited the agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of THC to the public and made them easily accessible,” Patrick said prior to the current legislative session. “These stores not only sold to adults, but they targeted Texas children and exposed them to dangerous levels of THC.”
When the Texas Legislature was called back to session early this year, Patrick made dismantling the industry a priority, starting with Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), designed to ban all forms of THC in Texas; the bill’s low number indicates its high priority, only behind the state budget (SB 1) and school vouchers (SB 2).
As written, Senate Bill 3 will ban all consumable hemp products in the state, from vapes to gummies with mysterious potency and even four-packs for THC seltzers sold at Spec’s and other retailers. It’s a zero-tolerance policy for all THC.
However, many feel the zero-tolerance policies in SB 3 are as overreaching as the farm bill was with its lack of regulation. Add to that, since 2018, many beverage producers and entrepreneurs have heavily invested in the THC business, main with THC-infused seltzers. Now, all the sides are in a rush to form a compromise before the legislative session ends.
Colt Power and his partner, Reagan, run Power Biopharms, a business they started out of their home in Fort Worth. Reagan is an ICU nurse and was determined to find a product that allowed for holistic pain treatment rather than the slippery slope of opioids, especially as Colt dealt with old injuries from days playing lacrosse at Notre Dame. The couple studied the science behind THC and started growing plants at their house, before moving operations to a massive greenhouse in Arlington. They hired a scientist and found a lab to test products.
Power Biopharms now sells CBD creams, gummies, and flower cigarettes, oils and blams, but we heard about them after they partnered with Martin House Brewery for a delta-9 seltzer infused with 5 milligrams of THC.
Community Brewing also got in the THC beverage game with CannaBliss, a THC soft drink with 5 milligrams of delta-9 and 2 milligrams of CBD.
Both companies, along with others we spoke to in 2024, have their products lab tested and even offer a report available to imbibers through a QR code, often printed on packaging.
Bayou City Hemp Co. in Houston makes Howdy THC seltzer. Co-founder Ben Meggs is explicit about his intentions with his seltzer. Their seltzers have either 2.5 or 5 milligrams of THC per can.
“We’re interested in capturing the soccer mom who is tired of drinking every day, who doesn’t want to have a hangover the next day and wants to take the edge off. That’s where we’re going,” Meggs said last year for an article about the rise of THC seltzers.
In all, hemp has grown into a multi-million-dollar industry in Texas with thousands of jobs. The Baker Institute for Public Policy reports, “From 2020 to 2023, sales of hemp-derived cannabinoids (excluding the non-impairing cannabidiol) increased by 1,283%, reaching a value of $2.78 billion last year.”
At the same time, THC-seltzer producers we’ve spoken are largely pro-regulation: They feel like an unregulated market is bad business for everyone.
Jeromy Sherman is the chief business officer and co-founder at Bayou City Hemp. Last year, he told us, “we obviously don’t want excessively high milligram products in the market.”
Community Beer Company founder Kevin Carr says they went through many rounds of testing and validation until they found suppliers that were able to give them documentation and analysis reports to ensure a reliable and predictable THC product.
In early May, House Bill 28 was introduced by Ken King (R-Canadian), chair of the Texas House Committee on State Affairs, as a substitute bill for SB 3. This new legislation would still ban all vape shops and some consumable products from sale; it would restrict some locations, like gas stations, from selling THC products. It also bans synthetics and packaging that appeals to children and allows counties to opt out completely — think hemp “dry” counties.
It would, however, allow retailers to continue selling edibles and drinks along with low-dose flower cigarettes under a much tighter regulatory system.
The bill passed out of committee 15-0 but now sits in a holding pattern in the House Calendar Committee, awaiting a date for a House vote. If HB 28 passes the full House, it sets up a potential showdown between this House version and the Senate’s version; the Senate can adopt HB 28 or force a conference for a compromise.
Colt Powers of Power Biopharms says the current bill in the House is a significant improvement over the Senate version.
“With that said,” he continues, “there are still many aspects of the current draft that would be extremely challenging and disruptive to the hemp industry in Texas.”
While he believes there should be more testing and oversight, the costs and resources associated with compliance under the proposed bill will be “extremely onerous for operators that are not scaled and extremely well funded.”
“It won’t kill the industry like the original bill would have,” he says, “but it will almost certainly crush the small business operators and prop up a small number of large companies that are able to afford compliance.”
Where the final bill and language lands is up to legislators now. Patrick has threatened an extended session if all hemp products aren’t banned completely. It could be a long, hot summer.
“}]] THC beverage makers talk about recent legislation that could kill or save the industry. Read More
