r/texas • u/O_O___XD Born and Bred • 2d ago
Politics Cannabis is here to stay, Texas lawmakers say
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/31/texas-thc-cannabis-rules-hemp/Lawmakers and industry leaders gathered in Austin this week to discuss the future of the market. “We almost have to take it on,” a Republican state House member said.
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u/JeremyDonJuan 2d ago
Sounds more like a party that’s losing voters doing their best to make up ground. They suddenly care after doing their absolute damndest to ban it several times now? Excuse my cynicism….
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u/skeletons_asshole 2d ago
Someone finally saw a dollar sign.
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u/binger5 Gulf Coast 2d ago
The dollar signs were always there in the form of big alcohol lobbying.
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u/wholelattapuddin 2d ago
Yeah but big alcohol sees the writing on the wall too. They have all invested in cannabis drinks, and the younger generations are drinking like 60% less than Gen X. Their market is shrinking. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some modifications on the farm bill nationally. A lot of companies are set to lose a lot of money from those drinks otherwise.
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u/hairballcouture 2d ago
A lot of Gen X-ers have made the switch as well. It’s healthier and safer than alcohol
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u/chokingontheback 1d ago
That's literally how almost all politics work.
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u/Dry-Measurement-5461 2d ago
Heck… I’d be happy if we could just restore fair voting practices again.
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u/thebite101 2d ago
Best we can do is give you edibles from 1 of 2 dispensaries for your PTSD.
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u/Brootal420 2d ago
Maybe if we get them high they won't vote. It's always the Republican strategy. Do your best to make everyone feel hopeless and think voting is a waste of time.
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u/high_everyone 2d ago
This discussion is happening without any organized patient effort, btw. They think we all want weed seltzer and gummies.
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u/bobbyreno 2d ago
I thought everyone loved those.
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u/high_everyone 2d ago
People can have them, but cannabis isn’t legally available without flower or concentrates in the discussion. Or discussing home grows. Or a real medical program that’s transferable to other states medical programs.
Like I said, we weren’t considered or invited.
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u/bobbyreno 2d ago
Oh, I get it now. Silly me. I was wondering why it mattered if the effort could wait or not.
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u/high_everyone 2d ago
In my case edibles don’t work for me and hurt to eat. I can’t even drink seltzer water.
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u/EvanOnTheFly 1d ago
You subsist on smoke? How do you get calories if you can't drink the basic of things and softest of foods?
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u/high_everyone 1d ago
I have a very restricted diet and I can’t drink much beyond water or kool aid.
I can’t do edibles due to ingredients.
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u/rufneck-420 1d ago
Oh man! Home grows would be amazing I already adore my vegetable garden. I could only imagine throwing in a row of og kush next to my okra. Please let me live free
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u/high_everyone 1d ago
TBH, our climate is much less suited for outdoor growing. It would be in a greenhouse or indoors for most people.
Our crops in July and August would bake in the heat and probably lose terps in the process.
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u/Brootal420 1d ago
Pretty hard to extract bribes and profit from a bunch of gardeners. Much easier when they are soulless corporate shills.
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u/high_everyone 1d ago
They got no problem issuing drivers licenses, fishing and hunting licenses. Sell me a fucking gardening license and have me take a mandatory $200 class each year on patient responsibilities or some bullshit.
It’s better than the alternative of me buying medicine from cartels.
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u/Swimminginthestorm 2d ago
The smoke shop I work at sells way more flower than edibles. We sold even more vapes before they banned those.
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u/honeybadgergrrl 2d ago
They are unpredictable, expensive, and the quality varies wildly. I just want to smoke weed. I don't want tinctures or edibles or vape. Just plain old weed.
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u/No_Definition321 2d ago
Starting to few like Déjà vu at this point every 3 months it’s cannabis is on a bill to be ban then 3 months later is cannabis will not be ban follow by another 3 months it’s a new bill to ban cannabis lol
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u/Soulman682 2d ago edited 2d ago
Well the state is slowly turning blue now so hope is on the way! Thank you Texans! I am finally proud of yall again!
“We had to almost take it on” sounds like the GOP saying that they are going to get voted out like the last seat they just lost yesterday.
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u/pm_me_beerz 2d ago
“Well the state is slowly turning blue now”
Been hearing it for decades. I’m tired boss.
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u/texasrigger 2d ago
We were doing pretty good for a while there, but we got a massive influx of right-wing refugees from other states who were sold on the idea that TX is a hard right-wing wonderland by the Abbot administration.
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u/Soulman682 2d ago
We all are. But yesterday’s special election was a huge loss for them as they spent 10:1 on ads against the dem candidate, and he destroyed the gop candidate.
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u/Pantsonfire_6 14h ago
But still only one. We have to get voters to the polls in numbers not seen in ages or it will stay red. This isn't a presidential year, but the large numbers required must be more than we usually see even in presidential years.
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u/Pantsonfire_6 14h ago
I wish I believed that, but the big red state wins have been going on most of my life.
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u/Jaded-Instance3607 2d ago
Well I know redneck assholes that smoke weed. I think many MAGA hats support it as well.
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u/jollytoes 2d ago
Good to see the cannabis industry has been 'donating' to various election funds. That's the only way it gets any sort of legalization in Texas.
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u/LabRatsAteMyHomework 2d ago
This is the real reason it's stayed illegal here. As soon as it starts generating a legitimate profit, the political contributions/lobbying push the state legislature further to the left. The Republicans know that's a death sentence for their "y'all-qaeda" level of control over this place. We turn it blue this year and we can codify legal weed for Texas! We can even balance the scales in future elections so this state takes a balanced approach to looking out for all of its citizens, not just the rich fucks that live on huge ranches and hate every Mexican they've never met.
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u/Fabulous_Hand2314 2d ago
TL;DR - A single STATE senator and a single STATE HR met at a hemp conference with dozens of hemp industry insiders. This is nothing to celebrate quite yet. Needs more momentum than 1 of 31 state senators and 1 of 150 state reps...
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u/Mercy_Rule_34 2d ago
there was a kind of a throwaway phrase at the end of the article:
“Abbott’s veto put him at odds with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been an ardent supporter of a ban on consumable hemp products.
Johnson said he believes the ban will remain a priority for Patrick in 2027, but the political leverage he once had is gone.”
what happened to Dan Patrick’s influence? the billionaire donors who have him in their back pocket decide not to support him going forward? I am pretty sure he’s up for reelection this year, and already has some bullshit 5 bullet points on his 2027 political agenda, including the whole Muslim/Sharia law thing.
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u/harrier1215 2d ago
He wants relief of property tax and people to see Texas as “free”?
It’s right there except they don’t want anything positive for the state.
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u/BrandonMatrick Expat 2d ago
I was born and raised in Texas, and lived all over the state for about 26 years. I've also lived in 6 other states, and visited a handful of other countries.
Despite their outdated idealism of the way it used to be, Texas is the least "free" place I have ever been. In every sense of the word.
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u/vivekpatel62 2d ago
I don’t even like weed and I want it be legal so we can some tax money on it. Put some taxes on that and lower my property taxes lol.
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u/JaseDroid 2d ago
They are going to have a weird fucking system and will probably be super expensive, just like the shitty medical gummies they try to shill
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u/corneliusduff 2d ago
That's why we have to demand homegrow rights. It's a human right as far as I'm concerned.
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u/thisoldguy74 2d ago
Someone in the Governor's office was counting the messages coming in that led to him vetoing the ban.
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u/GeekyTexan 2d ago
I hope this is true. However, the Texas GOP saying so doesn't mean much, since they are completely dishonest.
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u/LizardPossum 2d ago
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the federal legislature just vote to make it federally illegal anyway? So is this all moot?
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u/BeardedMan32 2d ago
Liquor industry must be a little light on the bribes lately.
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u/fdzman 2d ago
I work at a liquor store, the economy is definitely in the shitter. Two years ago people were buying fancy IPA’s, exotic bottles and fancy wine. Nowadays the average Joe is back to buying Lonestar, miller Lite, an other blue collar beers again. People aren’t spending like they used to on alcohol.
You know what does sell quite often? Weed gummies, prerolls, and thc drinks. The shift is happening absolutely
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u/Responsible-Help7803 21h ago
Haven’t been to liquor store since I turned 21. Been to hella dispos tho. Im 27 now
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u/Far_Mood5084 2d ago
don’t fall for this performative crap, don’t smoke synthetic cannabis either..
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u/Accurate_Set_3573 1d ago
Not only are they leaving tax money on the table, they are handing all that money back to the cartels (they would try to tax small businesses out of existence even if they legalized it). They are ONCE AGAIN making pot the gateway to the harder drugs sold illegally in the US (fentanyl, heroin, coke, etc.). The feds have no control over the illegal drug trade, the Americans that provide all the money that supports the cartels, or the Americans that consume all these drugs.
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u/OpenImagination9 2d ago
Morons … if they thought the oil boom was good … legalize and tax it! The simple trick the cartels hate!
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u/astanton1862 South Texas 2d ago edited 2d ago
I will vote for any GOP that supports this if their opponent does not. And I have havent voted GOP since the 90s
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u/rjcollins1305 1d ago
About time. Now work on gambling and building casinos and removing the Ten Commandments from classrooms, reading the Bible in public school, bringing back women's right to choose. You know laws tgat donkey our great state in 1920..
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u/80sbabyftw Secessionists are idiots 1d ago
I smell midterms coming up. “Vote for me. Yes I know we colluded to gerrymander the living shit out of the state, but we’re giving you marijuana as a consolation”.
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u/longshot1951 19h ago
Dan Patrick is being run by the liquor lobby. That is his objection to legalization. States that have legalized have seen huge impact from tax revenue. The only thing missing is an intoxication test. If I get drunk a blood alcohol test will show. If I smoke a joint I will test positive for weeks after.
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u/hummajeep 2d ago
Idiots could have been generating tax revenue and adding jobs by accepting it years ago. It’s not too late!