Texas was 40 minutes from a new era of prohibition. One that would have realistically shuttered thousands of independent businesses and, most importantly, tread upon rights of Texans – imposing criminal penalties for possessing federally legal consumable hemp products.
Then, with the clock running out, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed Senate Bill 3.
It was another plot twist in SB 3’s curious path though the legislative session and one rejoiced by business owners, prominent veterans groups, and a growing body of cannabis advocates who had remained highly engaged throughout the legislative session.
With his decision to veto, Abbott issued a four-page proclamation stating that he believed the bill had been well-intentioned, but that it was vulnerable to being ensnared in constitutional challenges.
“If I were to allow Senate Bill 3 to become law, its enforcement would be enjoined for years, leaving existing abuses unaddressed,” Abbott wrote of his decision. “Texans cannot afford to wait.”
He referenced a similar consumable hemp ban, SB 358, that was passed in Arkansas in 2023 and has since been dormant as legal proceedings play out.
Abbott’s proclamation also acknowledged that SB 3 could invite “criminal entrapment” upon Texas farmers. The 2018 federal Farm Bill permitted farmers to grow hemp, but SB 3 sought to ban any amount of all cannabinoids, with the exception of CBD and CBG. Because hemp plants contain roughly 148 other known cannabinoids, that would make the crop illegal, even if the amount of THC was very low.
Abbott signaled his interest in regulation instead of a ban and floated 19 potential regulations that could be considered in the special session he’s called for next month. Many of them were the same cleanups that people in the industry had been calling for in the months leading up to the legislative session. Those include age-gating products to be 21+, imposing child-resistant packaging standards, and banning marketing that is attractive to kids. Abbott’s list also called for regulations that many in the industry may view as overreach, like limiting sales to 10am to 9pm Monday through Saturday, restricting how many consumable hemp products an individual can purchase over a certain period of time, and giving regulatory authority to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has made a THC ban his marquee issue this session, offered immediate criticism of Abbott’s decision.
“His late-night veto, on an issue supported by 105 of 108 Republicans in the legislature, strongly backed by law enforcement, many in the medical and education communities, and the families who have seen their loved ones’ lives destroyed by these very dangerous drugs, leaves them feeling abandoned,” Patrick wrote in an after-midnight X post.
At a June 23 press conference he held in Austin, Patrick complained that Gov. Abbott had “parachuted in” after being quiet on the issue during session, and vetoed his bill without even the courtesy of a call.
“It puzzles me why my friend, Governor Abbott, would, at the last minute, about 22 minutes after 11pm, decide to veto this bill. I know he gave his reasons in his proclamation, but our team simply doesn’t agree with those reasons,” Patrick told reporters. “In reading this proclamation, you can only come to one 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. Now, whether it’s unintentional and he didn’t think through it, or it’s intentional, that’s the result of the veto. I’m very concerned that we’ll go through this period of time that these shops continue to spew out their poison.”
In both the inflammatory way he talked about hemp products and the sharp tone he directed against his GOP colleague, Patrick was upping the ante. Abbott had merely offended him by highlighting a handful of flaws in the bill and using them as a basis to veto it, but Patrick used his presser to argue against each point in the proclamation while tossing in guilt trips for good measure.
“If we don’t pass a bill that regulates hemp and marijuana, then the status quo and those 8,000 shops continue selling poison and kids keep getting sick and parents keep losing their children and people walk in front of trains and people shoot somebody,” Patrick said in a heightened moment of political theatre. “And, by the way, if that happens … I’m sorry, governor, it’s not on us. We’d have banned it.”
Patrick’s insistence that Texas shut down cannabis sales remains unwavering, despite it being deeply unpopular with voters.
A poll of Republican primary voters, conducted this month by Ragnar Research Partners and commissioned by the Texas Hemp Business Council, found that 47% of Texas Republicans oppose banning hemp products, compared to 37% supporting a ban. Another polling report, issued in June by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, found that Texas voters opposed Gov. Abbott signing SB 3 into law at a 3-to-1 ratio.
The press conference couldn’t have helped Patrick’s approval ratings. He seemed cocky and desperate and, perhaps, in denial.
“I’m not having a bad day,” he insisted at one point. “Texas is having a bad day.”
This article appears in June 27 • 2025.