Texas legislature begins its special session on hemp regulation 🏛️

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Texas legislature begins Special Session on hemp 🌿

Driving the news: The Texas legislature begins its special summer session today to take a second swing at hemp regulation. 

Texas lawmakers in June passed a sweeping hemp ban, SB 3, that would have potentially wiped out a state-wide industry that reportedly generates up to $5.5 billion a year, if Gov. Greg Abbott had not vetoed the bill in a last-minute move.

Consumers and companies breathed a sigh of relief over the veto, but Abbott and the Texas lawmakers are not done yet. 

Following the veto, Abbott called for a special legislative session to begin today, to hash out a new hemp bill, along with several other legislative matters that were left unaddressed during the regular session.

What they're saying: "As we move closer to the July 21st special session, more and more Republicans that voted in favor of SB3 are changing their tune to match the Governor’s proclamation of regulating hemp THC. We must keep this energy alive because we all know what Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is after,” The Texas Cannabis Collective said in a social media post on July 18.

And also: “I've been making this exact argument for almost a year in TX, & now even RINO [Republican in Name Only], Anti-Trump U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the author of the destructive 2018 legislation that allowed dangerous THC across our country, has finally realized we must ban THC in America,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a proponent of the original hemp ban, said in a social media message responding to news of Sen. Mitch McConnell, who said he supports closing the federal loophole from the 2018 Farm Bill that first enabled the proliferation of hemp-derived intoxicants.

Abbott released his agenda for the special session on July 9, which features numerous issues beyond hemp. He led with the need for disaster response reform following the tragic flooding that left at least 135 people dead.

The fight over the Texas hemp ban played out as an extension of the political rivalry between the state’s governor and lieutenant governor. Both sides have signaled that this dispute is not over, with Abbott indicating that he views legal hemp as a legitimate industry, while Patrick has vowed to shut it down.

The governor lists two hemp-related proposals in his agenda:

• Protect Children From THC: Legislation making it a crime to provide hemp-derived products to children under 21 years of age.
   

• Regulate Hemp-Derived Products: Legislation to comprehensively regulate hemp-derived products, including limiting potency, restricting synthetically modified compounds, and establishing enforcement mechanisms, all without banning a lawful agricultural commodity.

And more: A third proposal from Rep. Nicole Collier would protect consumers from criminal charges if they were unwittingly sold cannabis they thought was legal hemp.

-ZH

"We want to reduce the hurdles you have to go through every day to build your businesses up,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the New York City Cannabis Festival & Resource Fair. 

“We're seeing legal sales topping $350 million. We want more of that money to be in your pockets, not in the government's pockets. We want to make sure that New York becomes the cannabis capital of the globe. Let's keep lighting up."

Germany’s expanding medical cannabis market is a boon for Canadian companies, reports Chris Casacchia in this week’s Sunday Read. 

Canada leads Germany’s medical cannabis imports, supplying 43% of all dried flower in the first quarter of this year as demand surges following cannabis reform.

Read the full story.

New DEA pick scheduled for confirmation hearing 🏛️

President Trump’s pick for DEA Administrator, Terrance Cole, is scheduled for a confirmation vote on Monday. Cole has previously shared articles on social media about his negative stance on cannabis, and about what he views as the consequences of consumption. That being said, Cole said re-starting the process to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III would be one of his first priorities as Administrator, though he declined to say which direction he is personally leaning. 

Senate retains medical cannabis protections in key spending bill 📜

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill for Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies that preserved protections for state-legal medical cannabis programs, unlike the House's version of the same bill. The Senate also omitted a House measure that would have blocked spending for cannabis rescheduling. Both versions will have to be consolidated eventually. Marijuana Moment has more. 

Missouri revokes license for allegedly destroying evidence of wrongdoing 🔥

Regulators in the Show Me State stripped C&C Manufacturing of its cannabis manufacturing license in the wake of a massive recall from last year in which 135,000 products were pulled from shelves due to the company's alleged use of unregulated THC sourced from out of state to make vapes and other concentrate products. Regulators discovered that the company destroyed all of its cannabis products as well as any video surveillance footage that the state previously ordered them to preserve. 

Pennsylvania prepares for cannabis party 🎉

The Pocono Canna World Fair, “Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor summer cannabis festival” will return on July 26-27, with over “300 vendors, live entertainment and hands-on experiences.” The goal of the event is to educate newcomers and connect cannabis enthusiasts with a variety of typical festival events.

AYR Wellness secured a brief extension of its limited waiver agreement with senior noteholders until July 25, 2025, giving the company more time to address debt defaults and delayed financial filings.

Younger smokers at greater risk for abuse disorder 🚭

A study out of the UK found that cannabis use during adolescence is linked to the emergence of Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD). The study considered a variety of other possible correlates with CUD, including alcohol use, gender, tobacco use, negative life events, but was unable to find evidence linking CUD with those factors.

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