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- Legalization in Texas? Don't hold your breath
Legalization in Texas? Don't hold your breath
Plus, embarrassing updates on the rescheduling front
Jay Rosenthal
December 18, 2024
Good morning.
Yesterday we had a look at Pennsylvania’s path forward toward legalization. Today, it’s Texas. That’s right, Texas! Don’t mess with it.
Let’s go!
-JR
This newsletter is 787 words or about a 7-minute read.
💡 What’s the big deal?
DON’T MESS WITH
Legalization in Texas? Don’t hold your breath
Driving the news: Texas State Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, a Dallas Democrat, filed a bill to legalize cannabis in Texas. It’s set to be considered next year.
But also: Gonzalez filed her bill in November, around the same time that Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Texas cities that voted to decriminalize cannabis. This includes Gonzalez’s Dallas, where city voters passed a decriminalization bill called the Dallas Freedom Act.
And also hemp…: While the Attorney General takes aim at Texas cities, the Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is looking to ban any THC products in the state, including those produced from hemp. Which is complicated, because Texas has a sizable hemp-derived THC industry already on the books.
How big?
Well, the Baker Institute at Rice University estimates that Texas has over 7,000 registered hemp dispensaries and more than 50,000 Texans are employed in the hemp sector.
Big state salvation: Yesterday, we talked about Pennsylvania’s renewed push for legalization in the coming year. Beyond Pennsylvania, the big states that the industry is looking at are Florida (remember, Amendment 3 failed) and the big, white whale: Texas.
What’s next: Texas’ legislative session starts in early January. But the Austin-American Statesmen reports that the legalization bill has a slim chance of becoming law.
Still, the legalization/cannabis/hemp-derived conversation continues in Texas and could be a bellwether of things to come in big, Red states — like Florida.
And while we aren’t holding our breath that anything is going to happen soon, this conversation is certainly worth watching.
-JR
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📣 Quotable
“To be sure, a blunder of this nature on a case that has garnered a significant level of national attention is an unexpected development.”
This is a ruling by the Administrative Law Judge in the rescheduling hearing upon receiving a request by the Drug Enforcement Administration to subpoena the same person four times — as opposed to four separate subpoena requests for four separate people, which was clearly the intent.
More work for the DEA’s attorneys in advance of next year’s hearings.
Read the full story in Cannabis Business Times.
🥊 Quick hits
Final Kentucky licenses issued ☑️
In advance of qualifying Kentuckians being able to apply for their medical cannabis cards on January 1st, the State Office of Medical Cannabis has issued the final licenses for cannabis businesses. If you’re looking for a map of where these dispensaries will be located, you’re in luck — WHAS11 has you covered.
New rules being proposed in Ohio 🏬
Ohio is looking to be less like Michigan when it comes to cannabis advertising. A new set of proposals has been put forward to ban advertising of cannabis on billboards, tv, radio, and the internet. Other proposals on availability of pre-rolls to patients, cannabis returns, and discounts. See more from Cleveland.com
Massachusetts loves their pre-rolls ❤️
Using Headset data, the team at Custom Cones did some analysis on pre-roll sales in Massachusetts, and it seems Bay Staters love their pre-rolls. A lot. Pre-rolls take the top spot for total units sold, accounting for 39% of all unit sales in the Bay State which is nearly 20% market share by revenue, behind flower and vapes. Massachusetts is only behind Michigan and California when it comes to revenue from pre-rolls. Read more.
🧪 Science & research
Teen cannabis use at historic lows 📉
According to federally-funded research, teen cannabis use is down, and at near historic lows. Cannabis use is down a whopping 32 percent in the past decade among 10th graders — all while more and more states legalize cannabis. This data flies in the face of one of the key arguments of prohibitionists: that teen use goes up with legalization. So that’s good news. But, as industry watchers, we have to wonder if there aren’t worrying signs that when teens grow up to be in their 20s or 30s, their use will continue to be at historically low levels. Time will tell.
📊 Charts of the day
While Michigan cannabis sales continued to increase in November, the price of cannabis flower continues to decrease. New Cannabis Ventures broke down the sales numbers provided by Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency between adult-use and medical.
And here’s the falling price of flower.
📰 What we’re reading
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