Texas Hemp Hearing Highlights Divide in PublicHealth Committee While Special Session Stalls

OG Article By Stone Slade.

August 14, 2025

Yesterday, I testified before the Texas House Public Health Committee against HB 5, a bill that

would wipe out most hemp-derived THC products in Texas, in a hearing that was as revealing as

it was frustrating.

This was all taking place in a special session that has been stalled for weeks because House

Democrats left the state to block Governor Abbott’s redistricting plan. In an act of political

hostage-taking, Abbott tied disaster relief for Texas flood victims to that plan, so nothing

meaningful is moving forward. Flood relief, redistricting, hemp, all lumped together in a political

game of chicken. Abbott has already promised that if Democrats do not return, he will call

another special session with the same agenda. Hemp is not going anywhere off that list.

Abbott has been clear that he wants regulation, including 21+ age limits, THC caps, and no

synthetics. But some lawmakers are not following his lead. They are pushing an outright ban.

This means that even though the Governor says “add a few missing rules,” this committee is

entertaining a bill that would dismantle an $8 billion Texas industry and hand it straight to the

black market.

The Battle Lines in the Room

It did not take long to see where committee members stood. James Frank, Mike Olcott, and Mike

Schofield seemed combative, taking testimony like it was a personal attack. Katrina Pierson and

Charles Cunningham, on the other hand, appeared interested in finding middle ground.

Industry voices made a strong case for regulation over prohibition. Lukas Gilkey of Hometown

Hero, a Coast Guard veteran and licensed hemp business owner, reminded the committee that the

industry is already regulated by the Texas Department of State Health Services, which collects

over $1.6 million a year in licensing fees. The problem? Only about 30% of those funds are used

for enforcement, with the rest disappearing into the state’s general fund.

Gilkey’s point was sharp: if enforcement is the issue, fix the enforcement. Raise license fees if

necessary, hire more inspectors, but do not destroy an entire industry. He laid out the stakes:

53,000 Texas jobs, $4.3 billion in annual retail sales, and $260 million in sales tax revenue. He

also called out the hypocrisy of lawmakers working with lobbyists for the Texas Compassionate

Use Program, a monopoly selling many of the same products they want banned in the hemp

market.

Colton Luther of Texas Greencraft drove it home, saying HB 5 would make it impossible to

serve the everyday Texans, including veterans, blue collar workers, and patients who depend on

these products. Elizabeth Miller from the Republican Liberty Caucus gave deeply personal

testimony about how cannabis is the only thing keeping her functional with a serious medical

condition, noting she is forced to commit a felony every day just to live her life.

The Science and the “Psychosis” Talking Point

Representative Katrina Pierson asked the question that has been hanging over this debate: what

about THC and psychosis? When she pressed Texas Tech scientist Mr. McMahon, the answer

was telling.

Yes, he said, there is a correlation between THC use and psychosis, but it is in vulnerable

individuals with pre-existing conditions. Causation is not supported by the research. And

importantly, much of the “psychosis” being discussed is not from plant-derived hemp products at

all. It is from illegal synthetics like K2 and Spice. As Gilkey and others pointed out, those

synthetics have been banned for years and are sold on the street, not in licensed Texas hemp

stores.

If lawmakers cannot or will not make that distinction, they risk pushing consumers toward the

very dangerous, unregulated products they claim to be protecting the public from.

My Turn at the Mic

When I testified, I told the committee that stripping cannabis down to only CBD and CBG forces

unnecessary chemical processing and removes beneficial cannabinoids that work together for

better effect. I shared that I have spent years traveling the country, meeting patients, industry

experts, and even the Governor of Colorado to see how legalization actually works.

And I said what needs to be said more often: every bad thought people have about cannabis

comes from decades of propaganda, not science. In Texas, excessive alcohol use kills more than

10,000 people a year, but it is legal and celebrated. Cannabis is non-toxic, cannot cause a fatal

overdose, and in legal states, it is associated with lower rates of teen use, violent crime, and

DUIs.

HB 5 will not protect Texans. It will protect corporate interests, empower cartels, and push safe,

tested products out of the hands of responsible businesses and into the shadows.

The Bottom Line

Yesterday’s hearing showed a split in the committee. Some want a real conversation about how

to regulate this market responsibly. Others seem locked into prohibition no matter the facts.

As long as the special session remains hostage to redistricting, this bill may be stalled for now.

But with Abbott promising session after session until his agenda is passed, we will be right back

here. And if Texans do not speak up, we risk trading a regulated, revenue-generating industry for

a black market run by the very people lawmakers claim to be fighting.

The politics in that room were far more toxic than the plant they are trying to ban.