Texas Lt. Gov.'s Push to Ban THC Draws Ire From Right

Long viewed by Republican activists as a stalwart conservative responsible for driving the Texas Legislature rightward, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been criticized by fellow conservatives for his proposed ban on products with tetrahydrocannabinol, The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday.

Patrick's target was the multibillion-dollar hemp industry that had been created due to a loophole in a 2019 state law that legalized products providing a similar high to marijuana, something he feared was preying on the state's young people.

Patrick courted Republicans in both chambers of the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 3, which bans products containing THC — and would eliminate the state's $8 billion hemp industry and its estimated 50,000 jobs.

But as pressure increases on Gov. Greg Abbott to veto a THC ban sent to his desk, Patrick has been accused by some on the right of creating a nanny state and providing Mexican drug cartels a business opportunity to fill demand in the black market, according to The Texas Tribune.

Some have called Patrick a booze lobby shill for beer distributors who stand to benefit, and a hardline conservative state lawmaker who voted against the ban said it contradicted "the Texas mantra of being pro-business, pro-farmer and pro-veteran."

Writing on X, Dana Loesch, the former National Rifle Association spokesperson who is now the host of a nationally syndicated conservative talk radio show, said "this is stupid" in response to Patrick's argument that the ban would keep THC away from children. "It's like the gun ban argument with a different variable. Kids aren't buying it any more than any other controlled product (alcohol, cigarettes, et. al) and if they are, do your job as a parent and parent instead of idiotically expanding government."

Abbott, whose office has been flooded with calls to veto SB 3, has not revealed his intentions for the proposed law. He could sign it into law, veto it or do nothing and let it become law without his signature.

Some opponents of the ban have vowed to get rid of Patrick, who is running for reelection next year with an endorsement from President Donald Trump and more than $33 million in his campaign coffers.

However, with those assets on his side, and Patrick's long history of promoting policies that most primary voters see as higher priorities than preserving THC access, it is unlikely the blowback will cost Patrick much, according to political observers.

"It's hard to imagine given Patrick's position and where he is now that somehow this is going to be in and of itself the source of some fundamental political threat," Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune. "Honestly I think we're not used to seeing Dan Patrick criticized very much from within his own party and so it's really sticking out, and that's fair."

Bolstering those points, Patrick is still a champion of conservative policies and major player in Republican victories, despite the blowback. For example, in this session alone, state lawmakers passed stiffer bail laws, made it mandatory that most sheriffs work with federal immigration authorities and approved measures permitting time for prayer in public schools and requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.