Regardless of the outcome, cannabis and hemp history has consistently been made in the Texas Legislature. Both House Bills 63 1365 passed in the Texas House. While the Senate and Lieutenant Governor Anslinger will be another obstacle, it’s still relieving to see that there is an obvious and well-supported effort to reform the strongly prohibitionist cannabis laws in Texas.
The second way that cannabis/hemp history was made was with the unanimous passing in the Texas House of House Bill 1325, which would authorize an industrial hemp cultivation program for the state that has such a heavily dominant agricultural industry. Hemp, a plant with an almost infinite amount of uses, didn’t get a single opposition vote during the proceedings and earned its legislative right to be moving onto discussion and debate at the Texas Senate.
Unlike the Criminal Jurisprudence House Committee meetings for HB 63 and 1365, the Senate Agriculture Committee May 7th, 2019 meeting on HB 1325 didn’t allow for nearly as many personal testimonies either in favor or against the bill, only allowing a small list witnesses who were either certified professionals to speak on the subject or a brief testimony. District 28 senator Charles Perry sponsored the bill and began the meeting by giving a summary of the benefits of this crop, listing the thousands of products that can be produced by the crop.
The questions asked from both his fellow senators on the Agriculture Committee and the professionals who spoke during the meeting consisted far more of questions about logistics and precisely how the multiple government departments and private companies such as trucking companies would coexist and regulate this useful crop with a controversial cousin.
Incredibly specific yet incredibly important logistics surrounding the procedures of differentiating entirely legal hemp from cannabis with THC, everything from how law enforcement would be able to identify the two crops to fines that would be in place if a producer’s crops are tested at a higher THC percentage than is allowed and even seed variety, were discussed in exquisite detail by incredibly experienced and knowledgeable individuals in the subject of agriculture and law enforcement.
The professionals who spoke, such as Assistant Commissioner of Water and Rural Affairs Dan Hunter, answered several detailed questions that still remained in the implementation of an industrial hemp program.
A deeply personal testimony, however, was from Texas Rep. Rick Hardcastle. After speaking openly about how HB 1325 was beneficial for Texas, Hardcastle mentioned that he’s been using hemp oil for the past two months and “isn’t on a walking stick and has lost 90% of the shake in his legs.”
Overall with the overwhelmingly positive testimonies and comments from both the Committee members and regulatory agencies alike, the meeting showed great promise in the future of this impossibly useful plant in The Lone Star State.
For a full viewing of the Agriculture Committee meeting, please view: http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=14426