Texas had an opportunity to confront the explosive growth of intoxicating THC products. The Legislature acted. Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the bill.
That veto was a serious mistake, and its consequences are becoming increasingly clear.
What began with hemp legalization has developed into a massive commercial market for intoxicating gummies, drinks, vapes and other THC products. These items are now widely available in Texas communities, often from storefronts that bear little resemblance to what Texans envisioned when hemp was legalized.
In my community of McKinney, the proliferation of THC retailers is impossible to ignore. This is no longer simply an agricultural hemp issue. It is a rapidly expanding intoxicant industry establishing a permanent commercial presence across Texas.
The Legislature recognized the problem and passed Senate Bill 3, which would have prohibited retail sales of consumable hemp products containing intoxicating cannabinoids while preserving legitimate non-intoxicating products containing CBD and CBG.
Abbott vetoed it. His decision did more than stop one bill. It signaled to the intoxicating-THC industry that Texas remained open for expansion, lobbying and litigation. The industry now has every incentive to establish more storefronts, acquire more customers, hire more lobbyists and challenge state restrictions in court.
Every year of delay allows this industry to become more deeply entrenched. Businesses secure leases and build customer bases. Trade organizations grow stronger. Political influence increases. Eventually, lawmakers are no longer deciding whether an industry should have been allowed to develop. They are confronting an established commercial constituency demanding preservation of the status quo.
Texas should look at Arkansas. After Arkansas enacted restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived THC products, businesses sued and initially persuaded a federal judge to block enforcement. Arkansas kept fighting. In 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed that injunction in Bio Gen LLC v. Sanders, rejecting claims that federal hemp law prevented states from imposing tougher restrictions.
That ruling does not control Texas courts, but it provides an important example: federal hemp legalization did not strip states of their authority to regulate intoxicating products.
I am also troubled by the industry’s frequent invocation of veterans.
I am a disabled veteran who served more than two decades in the U.S. Navy, including during the Iraq War. Veterans deserve serious medical care, compassion and evidence-based treatment. Their suffering should never become political cover for preserving a commercial intoxicant industry.
If cannabis-derived medicines have legitimate medical applications, Texas can address them through appropriate medical and regulatory channels. That is fundamentally different from permitting a vast retail market for intoxicating THC products.
I also spent years in law enforcement and saw firsthand what substance abuse can do to individuals, families and neighborhoods. Prevention is far easier than repairing the damage after another intoxicating industry becomes culturally normalized.
Texas must pay particular attention to its children. A generation is growing up surrounded by THC gummies, beverages, vapes and storefronts marketing psychoactive products.
Normalization matters. Availability matters. Potency matters.
Texas lawmakers should enact clear, legally durable restrictions on intoxicating THC products while protecting legitimate non-intoxicating hemp commerce. They should study Arkansas’s legal victory, anticipate industry litigation and prepare a bill capable of surviving judicial scrutiny.
Gov. Abbott should call a special session rather than wait for the next regular legislative session.
The Pandora’s box opened by the veto will only become harder to close.
Texas should close it now. GUEST COMMENTARY
PAUL CHABOT PRESIDENT OF THE COALITION FOR A DRUG FREE TEXAS
