Texas Lt. Governor Blows Up At Gov. Greg Abbott Over THC Ban Veto
A bill to ban THC products in Texas has put Gov. Greg Abbott and his longtime lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, at odds — a relatively rare disagreement between the two Republican leaders.
Patrick sharply criticized Abbott on social media and at a press conference on Monday after the governor vetoed the bill late Sunday night.
Senate Bill 3 aimed to ban consumable hemp products that contain THC. Though marijuana is illegal in Texas except for medical use, a law legalizing consumable hemp products led to an explosion in the market for edibles, gummies and more containing the psychoactive compound that is also found in the cannabis plant.
'It puzzles me why my friend Greg Abbott would, at the last minute, at about 22 minutes after 11, decide to veto this bill,' Patrick said at the news conference Monday.
The night before, Patrick took to social media, expanding on the idea that THC products destroy lives.
'Throughout the legislative session, [Abbott] remained totally silent on Senate Bill 3, the bill that would have banned dangerous THC products in Texas,' Patrick wrote on social media Sunday. 'His late-night veto, on an issue supported by 105 of 108 Republicans in the legislature, strongly backed by law enforcement, many in the medical and education communities, and the families who have seen their loved ones' lives destroyed by these very dangerous drugs, leaves them feeling abandoned. I feel especially bad for those who testified and poured their hearts out on their tragic losses. I will have much more to say at a press conference tomorrow in Austin.'
Patrick said during the news conference Monday that 'virtually every' police department in Texas wrote Abbott a letter asking him to ban THC products. The Texas Medical Association also showed support for the bill.
'This is not a Dan Patrick bill,' Patrick said. 'This is a bill that reasonable people in professions that know best, from medicine to law enforcement to education, said they all support.'
In Abbott's veto proclamation, he wrote that the bill would never go into full effect because of 'constitutional challenges' and that Texas must 'immediately' start regulating hemp products. Abbott called a special legislative session in July so legislators can write a bill that fixes the problems but can also go into effect this year.
Patrick argued that the best way to protect adults and children is to ban THC products, not regulate them. He said Abbott's veto 'surprises' him and suggests Abbott wants to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas.
'That's the headline, folks,' Patrick said, 'because that's what this proclamation does. Whether it's unintentional and he didn't think through it, or whether it's intentional, that's the result of the veto.'
Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott's press secretary, said in a comment to HuffPost that the bill was 'legally flawed.'
'Governor Abbott has always shared the Lieutenant Governor's desire to ensure that THC products are not sold to our children and that the dangerous synthetic drugs that we have seen recently are banned,' Mahaleris said. 'SB 3 was well intentioned but legally flawed and this is why he is putting it on the special session agenda so that it can be fixed, improved and signed into law. We should not risk years of potential legal battles when we can fix the bill and protect kids now. Governor Abbott looks forward to working with the legislature to pass a strong bill that is on sound legal footing.'
Patrick continued to take aim at Abbott during the news conference, saying Abbott's argument isn't valid and wondering how the governor could know that enforcing the bill would take years.
'I'm not having a bad day,' Patrick said. 'Texas is having a bad day.'
In his proclamation, Abbott wrote that the legal problem with the bill is that it puts federal and state law at odds with each other because Congress has legalized the sale of hemp products with THC.
Patrick said he and Abbott can usually find common ground, but he was surprised Abbott vetoed the bill after telling him he was going to sign it into law.
'I didn't start this,' Patrick said. 'I did my work.'
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