Colton Luther isn’t usually one for inserting himself in politics. Yet, last week, he found himself writing a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Luther works closely with farmers at Geremy Greens, a hemp farm located just outside Austin. He said Senate Bill 3, which would ban consumable THC products like vapes and gummies, will have massive implications for hemp farmers.
“This is bad policy," he said. "This is policy that takes away an entire industry. It takes away jobs, it takes away money. There is going to be a ton of devastation from this bill."
Luther’s message was one of roughly 120,000 handwritten letters and signed petitions from farmers, small business owners and veterans that were delivered to the governor’s office Monday. Each of them urges Abbott to veto SB 3 and rewrite a THC policy that calls for stricter regulation opposed to an all-out ban.
Luther said Texas farmers are losing money every day the bill hangs in limbo.
“Farmers out there are uncertain now of the next season,” Luther said. “We have [some groves] that are actually on pause at the moment, losing money day by day, waiting to make sure what they grow, what they process, the transactions that they do, do not land them a felony.”
Lawmakers have reassured farmers that it’s just consumable hemp products that contain THC on the line, but Luther said that accounts for most of growers' business.
“If you take away the market that creates the demand that the farmers are upholding … what business do we have left?” he said.
Luther said many farmers are making plans to move to states where marijuana is legal or decriminalized, which he said are “begging” for hemp production. But that's worse-case scenario.
"We love Texas. We love helping Texans. That's our biggest passion," he said. "That's why we're still here, why we go through these uncomfortable press conferences ... we really we do care about our neighbors."
U.S. Army Veteran Dave Walden also penned a letter to Abbott, warning a THC ban would leave veterans reliant solely on the Texas Compassionate Use Program. Walden said THC products through the program cost him five times more compared to options at cannabis dispensaries.
“A veteran that lives off disability and makes a couple grand a month and that’s all the income they have, how can they afford it?” Walden said.
Mitch Fuller, the national and state legislative chairman for Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, also wrote to Abbott.
“[It’s] an important alternative modality to the opioids and antidepressants that the VA has been negligent in shoving down our throats for the last 25 years,” he said. “That's the problem, that’s the poison: the opioids.”
Fuller said opposing SB 3 is the top priority for the veterans organization. He said taking away readily available THC products could result in an uptick in veteran suicides.
“Please don’t take something away from us that works,” he said Monday.
SB 3 was championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who argues the bill will "save an entire generation from being hooked on drugs."
Patrick, along with other supporters of the bill, have raised concerns about children getting their hands on THC products sold in candy-like packaging throughout the state.
Aubree Adams, director of Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, said her son became addicted to marijuana and experienced cannabis-induced psychosis.
"It’s a predatory, addiction for profit industry that wants to profit off the destruction of our families while they’re laughing all the way to the bank," she said. "They don’t want people to know the true harms of THC,” she said.
Abbott has until June 22 to take action on the bill. He hasn't indicated whether he will veto it.
If he doesn't, or if he signs it, the bill will go into effect on September 1.
