AUSTIN, Texas — Included in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s legislative priorities is banning delta-8 and delta-9 products.
In high doses, the drugs have similar effects to marijuana but are a legal alternative.
After being diagnosed with a lung disease, Estella Castro turned to alternative medications to relieve her pain.
She now owns Austinite Cannabis Co. and sells various cannabinoid products. Her goal is to give her customers a sense of wellness.
“If you can help somebody else cope and have a good day, I feel like that’s what it’s about,” said Castro.
Some products she sells are delta-8 and Delta 9, cannabinoids that have psychoactive effects. That’s one reason Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick charged state senators to craft legislation that bans delta-8 and delta-9 and make recommendations to further regulate the sale of these products and stop marketing to children.
“Yes, we should have an age requirement. I feel like we should be doing more testing, but I feel like banning delta-9 would be steps backwards,” said Castro.
Lawmakers have tried to ban and regulate delta-8 and delta-9 products in past sessions to no avail.
“We need to support the Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and his push to ban these products,” said Aubree Adams, founder of an anti-marijuana organization, Every Brain Matters.
Adams says the ban needs to happen next session.
“These products that they are pushing to be legalized are not medicine. If they want them to be medicine, they need to put them through a process and get them approved by the FDA,” said Adams.
Medical marijuana is legal in Texas if you have certain conditions. Advocates fear a ban on delta-8 and delta-9 products could send people who don’t qualify for medical use to dangerous sources.
“Then all we’ve done is create another illicit market in Texas,” said David Bass, founder of Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana.
Castro says a ban on delta-8 and delta-9 could hurt her business.
“It could hurt a lot of businesses here not only in the state but then other states that can transport hemp,” she said.
A case over the legality of delta-8 is currently before the Texas Supreme Court awaiting a hearing and ruling. The product is allowed to remain on shelves in the meantime.