Author: Retired Lt. Diane Goldstein is a 21-year police veteran and executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a nonprofit group of police, judges, and other law enforcement professionals who support policies that improve public safety and police-community relations
Austin American Statesman
Lawmakers have wasted little time prioritizing a misguided measure that would take the state backward.
State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, recently introduced Senate Bill 3, a proposal to ban the sale of all consumable hemp products in Texas, except for medical marijuana and products exclusively containing cannabidiol, or CBD. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the legislation is necessary to halt the sale of products containing THC — the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana — following reports of certain products being sold with THC concentrations above the legal limit in Texas.
As a career law enforcement official, I understand the desire to protect the public, and especially our youth. But this bill would only stand in the way of upholding public health and safety.
In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed the federal Farm Bill, making it legal to grow industrial hemp, defined as cannabis containing delta-9 THC levels of 0.3% or less. Texas lawmakers in 2019 allowed the sale of consumable hemp products using the same THC threshold.
Many retailers abide by state law. But the vagueness of state law and the weakness of its enforcement regime have also allowed bad actors to capitalize, with some selling intoxicating products that circumvent or directly violate state law.
With SB 3, lawmakers are calling for the state to respond to these gaps not by addressing them specifically, but by banning all THC products outright. After years of witnessing the failures of drug prohibition, I believe this approach will only create more problems for law enforcement and the public.
Such bans typically fail because they do nothing to stem demand. As prohibition forces out the legitimate manufacturers and retailers who had been operating legally, less scrupulous actors, including elements of organized crime, will jump at the opportunity to expand their customer base. This shift to the illicit market creates the potential for much graver harm, due to nonexistent product standards and the presence of sellers who may also be involved in other illegal activity, including human trafficking, gun-running and the sale of deadly drugs such as fentanyl.
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