Politics
Texas Officials Say Cannabis Reform Is A Priority For 2027 Session And Tout Hemp As ‘Saving Grace’ For Farmers
Texas’s incoming Democratic lieutenant governor said a bill to legally regulate THC products will be one of her top priorities in the 2027 session—as the state’s agriculture commissioner-elect says hemp has the potential to be the “saving grace” for farmers.
Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin (D) said in an interview with KSAT-TV on Wednesday that while she won’t be filing any legislation herself as presiding officer of the Senate, she has reserved the first 30 bill numbers for other lawmakers’ proposals that she deems to be among her “priorities”—saying that “regulating THC” is on the list.
Asked whether she wants to go as far as fully legalizing marijuana or taking the more incremental step of allowing only certain hemp-derived THC products, Goodwin said she and other officials are “going to have to have some conversations about that.”
“My bottom line goal is to make sure that people can get safe products,” she said. “We heard from a lot of veterans who use hemp and THC products for pain management. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to use these products for a multitude of medical reasons, and we but we need to do more research on that.”
The incoming incoming lieutenant governor said she has spoken with a lot of hemp businesses about the issue and “they all have different ideas about what’s the best way to go about it.”
“Is does Florida have the best plan? Does Oklahoma have the best plan?” she said. “So I think we still need to have a lot of conversations about exactly how we go about legalizing hemp, THC, marijuana, whatever.”
She clarified, however, that she is “open to” any approach, including full cannabis legalization, because “right now, by having it illegal, you push people to the black market” where products that people are getting “may not be safe” and “may be laced with fentanyl.”
“Safety is my primary concern,” she said.
Meanwhile, Clayton Tucker, Texas’s agriculture commissioner-elect, told The Texas Standard in an interview published on Wednesday that “hemp, I think, is going to be our saving grace.”
The crop is “very drought-tolerant,” he said.
“That would be great, particularly out west, in parts of the state that are getting drier,” Tucker said. “So it can be a fantastic cash crop.”
The incoming top agriculture official also touted hemp’s ability to generate diesel fuel, saying the state is “limited on how many diesel refineries we can build, but we might be able to build hemp diesel refineries a little bit easier as a backup option.”
“So we’ll be making it easier for farmers to grow it, really try to get things out of the way,” he said. “My only consideration is just making sure that no corporate monopolies form. That is one of our major goals.”
Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican elected officials in Texas are discussing the possibility of teaming up across partisan lines to advance cannabis reform in the 2027 legislative session following last week’s election results that upended the GOP’s long-held dominance of the state.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, who is based in Austin, said that Texas Republicans “passed some crazy laws banning THC products, and it’s probably cost them the election.”
Goodwin said separately at a press conference this week that she is “look[ing] forward to working with all of the senators to work out those details” on cannabis legislation, saying she is “not interested in a full ban on THC.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Wes Virdell (R) said that cannabis is an issue “where me and the Democrats can definitely align on.”
“I think you’ll see very bipartisan bills come out of the House, and hopefully the Senate on those issues,” he said.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who was defeated in this month’s election by Goodwin, pushed legislation last session to ban hemp THC products that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Following that veto, however, state agencies advanced restrictive rules that effectively banned many hemp products and which are currently being challenged in court.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have already prefiled bills for the 2027 session to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas, expand medical cannabis access and enact other reforms.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa (D) has said she wants to let Texas voters decide on marijuana legalization via a referendum, though under state law that would have to be a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by the legislature.
A strong bipartisan majority of Texans support legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, according to recent polling.
Voters in Houston this month approved a ballot initiative to make misdemeanor marijuana possession the “lowest possible enforcement priority” for local police while also banning no-knock warrants.
Meanwhile, Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) has said he wants to parter with President Donald Trump to federally legalize marijuana.
Image element courtesy of AnonMoos.
