There is a lot at stake in the hemp fight in Texas

Like many other states, Texas is on a – let’s call it a – journey when it comes to marijuana and its legal status.

There are fewer prosecutions for the drug. Legal medical uses are limited. But no, recreational marijuana is not legal and possession of the drug can still lead to arrest.

But there is a workaround, because the cannabis plant hemp is legal here, supposedly because it has a lower concentration of the psychoactive compound delta-9-THC. Plants with less than 0.3% delta-9-THC are hemp. If the concentration is higher, it is marijuana. Both plants belong to the cannabis family.

So cannabis is legal because it doesn't get you high, right? If that was the idea, it fails the smoke test.

Texas monthly Editor-in-chief Russell Gold published an investigation earlier this month titled “Texas Has Essentially Legalized Marijuana. We Have the Proof.”

What Gold proves is something many recreational drug users already know. You can get very high by visiting a cannabis shop in Texas. Gold purchased products from eight cannabis dispensaries across the state, including Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Of eight samples, “each contained Delta-9 THC levels above legal limits. Every sample contained marijuana.”

This all comes as the state of Texas is at odds with the growing hemp industry over the Texas Department of Health's attempt to classify a hemp-derived psychoactive substance called delta-8-THC as a Schedule I controlled substance.

The state filed a petition with the Texas Supreme Court last week to assert its long-standing authority to classify THC products as Schedule I substances, meaning drugs with no applicable medical use and a high risk of abuse.

It is extremely important that the State Supreme Court decide this case, and we hope the outcome favors the State's position that the Health Commissioner has the authority to classify hemp-derived THC products as Schedule I drugs.

The fact that hemp is now legal under federal and state law has created a confusing regulatory framework, because hemp derivatives can be just as potent as marijuana and are available at any mall near you.

As the state notes in its petition, “synthetically derived delta-8 present in hemp” could “produce a highly psychoactive substance.”

And because of Gold's reporting, we know that hemp-derived Delta-9 products are already legally marijuana.

Legal marijuana needs to be debated in Texas. Given the mounting evidence of the negative effects of potent marijuana strains currently on the market in many states, this debate deserves very serious and careful consideration. This must also be balanced with the long-standing problematic use of marijuana laws to send poor and minority citizens to prison for extended periods of time.

What we cannot tolerate is a product that avoids this debate. Hemp is basically marijuana. And the government should be able to say so.

We welcome your opinion in a letter to the editor. Read the guidelines and Send your letter hereIf you have any problems with the form, you can send it by email to the following address: [email protected]