Patrick Says Governor Gave Industry
State Seal of Approval with THC Order
Capitol Inside
September 12, 2025
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick gave Governor Greg Abbott a terrible review on Friday for an attempt to regulate the THC industry in Texas without legislative approval with an executive order that failed to contain key elements of a deal that the state's top leaders thought they had on the final day of a special session last week.
"The Governor's executive order, intentionally or not, has sent a signal to the THC industry that they have a state seal of approval on the current THC market," Patrick said in a four-page analysis on the Abbott decree on consumable products made from hemp.
The Republican lieutenant governor repeated the arguments he'd made throughout the year for a full-scale prohibition on the sale of products derived from hemp. Patrick pointed out that almost all of the GOP legislators here voted for an outright ban in a Senate bill that Abbott vetoed in June.
Patrick raised the specter of bringing the governor back to the bargaining table. "As always, I am open to conversations with the governor, as I would be on any issue," Patrick said.
Patrick contended that the tentative pact that he had with Speaker Dustin Burrows and Abbott included a ban on the sale of synthetic products like Delta-8 and Delta-10. But the lieutenant governor asserted that Abbott's executive order did not do the same.
Patrick said the agreement also included a prohibition on the sale of THC products at smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores. The executive order had no such provision, according to the state Senate president. Patrick said state leaders had agreed to limit legal sales of hemp consumables to products that were manufactured in Texas. But there was no homegrown restriction in the edict that the governor issued.
Patrick said the executive order would not stop THC retail stores from being located near schools and would create an "unlawful resell market" that children would rely on after Abbott-imposed age limitations went into effect. .
The lieutenant governor took umbrage with a line in the hemp regulation order that says the governor wants adults to have the freedom to "enjoy" THC products that are legal. Patrick argued that this was another term for getting high.
more to come ...
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