Abbott Offers No Denial to Patrick Claim
on SB 3 Veto as Legal Marijuana Launch

Capitol Inside
June 24, 2025

An epic battle over the future of cannabis in Texas took another wild turn on Monday when Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick declared that Governor Greg Abbott was setting the stage for the legalization of recreational marijuana with a decision to veto a THC ban in Senate Bill 3 late the night before.

But the most significant turn on the hottest political battlefield in Texas may have come when the Republican governor declined to refute or to deny the Senate president's sizzling claim that he's on a mission to make pot legal here with the killing of SB 3 as the launching pad.

After Patrick fired off the accusation at a press conference to protest the veto, Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement that SB 3 was "well intentioned but legally flawed" and would be fixed in a special session that the governor set to get under way on July 21.

The Abbott aide said the governor agreed with Patrick on the need for legislation that would prevent THC products from being sold to children while banning "dangerous synthetic drugs" that the lieutenant governor insists are available at the retail level in thousands of stores around the state.

Patrick ran the risk of putting words in the governor's mouth in an expansive interpretation of the press aide's words in a social media post on Monday night.

"I am glad to see that Gov. @GregAbbott_TX , based on this statement from his spokesperson, has decided to ban all synthetic cannabis including Delta 8, Delta 10, and others," Patrick said on X.

"My staff will immediately reach out to begin working with Gov. Abbott’s office to craft language to achieve this goal so when we return to Austin for the special session on July 21st, we can quickly pass a bill to ban all synthetic THC," the Senate president added. "We will also be consistent with Senate Bill 3 to ensure dangerous THC edibles and beverages are banned. I thank Gov. Abbott for joining Speaker Burrows and me in his desire to ban these dangerous products."

Abbott for the record has never endorsed the legalization of marijuana beyond its use in the state's compassionate care program that doctors control. The absence of a denial in the face of Patrick's allegations doesn't necessarily mean that Abbott supports the legal sale of marijuana here. But the governor could be fueling perceptions that such a position may be true by refusing to push back on it.

Patrick said the governor made the medical marijuana program here worthless with the SB 3 veto that eliminates the need for people who are suffering to seek help through it.

Patrick said at the news conference that he would not go along with the governor's plan to regulate the industry that revolves on products with THC that are made from hemp. But Patrick's response to the Abbott press secretary post appeared to suggest between the lines that a middle ground on regulation could be a possibility when lawmakers return to the Capitol next month.

Patrick did not mention Delta-9, the naturally-occurring compound in cannabis that produces a psychoactive effect that's known as getting high. Delta-8 and Delta-10 in contrast are synthesized in labs to create a similar feeling when smoked or swallowed.

But the Texas Senate boss pointed to California Governor Gavin Newsom in the press conference as an example of a major political leader who's in sync with him on hemp products infused with THC. Newsom has successfully pushed to ban them. The catch is that cannabis with Delta-9 THC has been legal for nearly 10 years in the deep-blue state that the Democrats leads on the west coast.

But Abbott actually may have more in common with his Republican counterpart in Florida where Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill two years ago that would have sharply restricted the sale of hemp intoxicants like those the Texas lieutenant governor wants to outlaw. DeSantis saved the hemp industry from imminent demise in the Sunshine State at the same time he was fighting a statewide amendment that would have legalized marijuana for recreational use by adults there.

Patrick doesn't see such a move in the Abbott gameplan - however - based on the ostensible exposing of the Texas governor's ulterior motives with the veto of SB 3 that left him puzzled initially until a post-mortem analysis led to the conclusion on recreational marijuana.

more to come ...

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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