Texans should not fall for the Bait & Switch of Government Control impersonating "Compassionate Care" in Hemp Debate
By Mark Bordas
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Texas Original, the state’s dominant, state-sanctioned medical marijuana operator, takes every opportunity to position itself as "compassionate." But that effort is disingenuous and a poor attempt to rewrite the narrative of cannabis access in Texas. Beneath the lab coats – and scripted talking points – is not a call for "compassionate care," but an unmistakable economic power grab by a company that already controls over 75% of the state’s tightly restricted Medical Marijuana Market.
Texas Original is not a neutral participant in the cannabis policy debate. In fact, you could equate it to being an Apex Predator in a carefully protected primordial pond, demanding the state drain any adjacent neighboring lakes.This is a monopolistic marijuana incumbent seeking to entrench its market dominance by fraudulently conflating two distinct products – marijuana and hemp – as if they were chemically and legally interchangeable.
It is like arguing that bourbon and boba (a non-alcoholic tapioca drink,) belong on the same shelf because, after all, they both come in glass bottles.
But the law is clear:
Marijuana is a Schedule I Controlled Substance under Federal Law, which requires a physician’s prescription and prohibits firearm ownership for users.
Hemp, by contrast, is federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, is widely used in consumer wellness products, and is regulated as a food or supplement.
Hemp, by contrast, is federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, is widely used in consumer wellness products, and is regulated as a food or supplement.
Pretending these products are one and the same is not just intellectually dishonest, it is a shamefully deliberate attempt to mislead the public – while lining private (investor's) pockets!
Texas Original is leveraging that inside access to ram through a policy agenda that has little to do with public health – and everything to do with market control. A former high-ranking employee of the Lt. Governor’s and his client are exploiting that relationship, with a seemingly authoritarian grip on the Senate, to advance an agenda that blatantly ignores Governor Abbott’s clear veto message: to protect children from THC, and to regulate hemp derived products – not a ban. The “faux competition” argument advanced by Texas Original and echoed by its political supporters that legal, hemp-derived THC products somehow undermine the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) collapses under even the most basic scrutiny.
Texas Original just emerged from its most successful legislative session ever, walking away with expanded licenses, new delivery methods, broader qualifying conditions, and higher THC caps – but somehow all this is not enough, thanks to its voracious appetite for more control (and profits)!
Monopolies by definition, eliminate competition and seize control. Despite those legislative victories, Texas Original is now demanding more, by intentionally conflating marijuana and hemp – not because the medical marijuana program is faltering, but because it wants to eliminate access to the legal hemp industry.
Texas Original just emerged from its most successful legislative session ever, walking away with expanded licenses, new delivery methods, broader qualifying conditions, and higher THC caps – but somehow all this is not enough, thanks to its voracious appetite for more control (and profits)!
Monopolies by definition, eliminate competition and seize control. Despite those legislative victories, Texas Original is now demanding more, by intentionally conflating marijuana and hemp – not because the medical marijuana program is faltering, but because it wants to eliminate access to the legal hemp industry.
The hemp industry, embraced by over 8,500 retailers and millions of adult consumers across Texas, represents everything the monopoly fears – competition, innovation, affordability, and consumer choice.
This Special Session pandering is not about safety. It is about monopolistic control, and Texans should not fall for the bait-and-switch.
When Texas Original applied for its license, its deep pocketed, sophisticated investors surely understood the rules. They knew TCUP would be limited, that its customers would need physician approval, and that its products would exist within the narrow boundaries of a medical-only regime – after all, the product they are selling remains a Schedule 1 drug and as such, remains federally illegal.
And yet rather than compete in a broader market or adapt, the company has run to the legislature not to improve TCUP, but to suppress an entire legal industry under the guise of “safety.” Its among the oldest tricks in the political play book, essentially dressing up the monopoly as moral concern and hoping no one looks too closely.
But Texans eyes are looking. Hemp is widely used and broadly accepted. It is currently legal at both the Federal and State levels. Texans from all walks of life use it for aid in digestion, sleep and general aches and pains – not to mention anxiety, and relaxation.
Further regulation – not elimination – is supported by the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats.
But Texans eyes are looking. Hemp is widely used and broadly accepted. It is currently legal at both the Federal and State levels. Texans from all walks of life use it for aid in digestion, sleep and general aches and pains – not to mention anxiety, and relaxation.Further regulation – not elimination – is supported by the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats.
At least four polls by respected pollsters have shown that to be the case. The opposition in turn asks weighted questions to get laughable, and highly predictable results. It’s called a “push poll” in political circles, and not worth the time or money spent on it.
Texans can see the difference between responsibly regulated hemp and scare tactics, and they know that just like any industry, there are bad actors and that enforcement resources from the state to police the marketplace have been severely lacking. They see that no one in the legal hemp industry opposed the recent legislative improvements to TCUP.
What Texas Original and its legislative allies are pursuing isn’t expanding access to medical marijuana, instead it is about rewriting the rules to serve their own interests by deliberately blurring the lines under the catch-all term “cannabis”.
In other words, some legislators seek to fold hemp and marijuana into a single category that only the TCUP licensees can control.
If these interests succeed, veterans and the entire adult population will be left with only one legal option – enrolling in a Government Registry to purchase high-potency marijuana from a state-sanctioned monopoly, and relinquishing certain rights and freedoms as a result of appearing on that government list.
If these interests succeed, veterans and the entire adult population will be left with only one legal option – enrolling in a Government Registry to purchase high-potency marijuana from a state-sanctioned monopoly, and relinquishing certain rights and freedoms as a result of appearing on that government list.
It would be like the right to carry and potential implications for child custody battles.
Let’s Underscore what this means for Texas Veterans
Telling a veteran struggling with PTSD that their only legal recourse is a federally illegal drug that strips away 2nd Amendment Rights is not just bad policy, it is shameful.- Many such individuals have found relief from hemp-derived cannabinoids, which are legal under Federal & State Law, are more accessible, and do not require intrusive government registration and are considerably less expense.
- Many veterans and adult users prefer a lower-potency or non-psychoactive product not offered under TCUP.
If Texas truly wants to regulate hemp more robustly, then:
- the legislature should acknowledge that it has not given Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) the resources necessary to adequately enforce existing law, and
- the Texas House and Senate should work together to pass thoughtful legislation that imposes age restrictions, ensures more robust product testing, child-safe packaging, and clear labeling.
Governor Abbott clearly stated his support for such an approach, and his recent veto affirms that prohibition is not the answer.
Texas Original and its allies continue to peddle misinformation, repeatedly labeling the hemp industry as “unregulated” – a baseless, disingenuous claim that is not only misleading, but patently false. Hemp derived products are subject to federal standards under the 2018 Farm Bill, and to existing state laws on manufacturing, packaging, and retail.
The future of medical marijuana and regulated hemp in Texas should not be defined by monopoly, misinformation, or manufactured moral panic.
Instead, the regulatory treatment should be defined by fairness, competition, and freedom – especially for adult Texans, for Veterans, for patients and entrepreneurs who have built their lives and livelihoods around this industry, and for those who depend on the product to overcome life's challenges in order to function in society.
Instead, the regulatory treatment should be defined by fairness, competition, and freedom – especially for adult Texans, for Veterans, for patients and entrepreneurs who have built their lives and livelihoods around this industry, and for those who depend on the product to overcome life's challenges in order to function in society.
Texans deserve better than backroom monopolies and orchestrated media stunts. They deserve a public policy that protects consumers and preserves adults’ choices.
That’s the Texas way.
Mark Bordas serves as the Executive Director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, a nonprofit trade association focused on advancing and protecting hemp-derived products in the Lone Star state.
