Texas legislators are debating whether hemp-derived THC products should remain legal. Senate Bill 5, the current proposal, would impose a ban on all THC from hemp, except CBD. Supporters argue that children are at risk, while opponents say the ban would dismantle a legal market, create enforcement problems, and drive sales to the black market. Former law enforcement officer Scott Gates says the debate is ignoring practical realities and decades of on-the-ground policing experience.
Gates became a licensed Texas peace officer in 1989, spending over 20 years as a commissioned officer and earning the rank of Master Peace Officer in 2001. He also served in a Regional Narcotics Task Force, where he worked cases involving marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and prescription drug diversion. Over the years, he testified before the Texas Legislature on various issues, including as the lone law enforcement voice in favor of “concealed carry” of firearms in the 1990s.
Gates says the testimony from law enforcement officials supporting the hemp ban feels like “a flashback to 30 years ago” when some officers warned of disaster if the concealed carry legislation passed. “They were full of it then, and they’re full of it now,” he says. He calls current claims “outrageous” and says they’re driven by politics rather than data.
One of his criticisms is that law enforcement leaders are unable to enforce reasonable regulations, such as age restrictions. “That’s doing a disservice to law enforcement to say, oh, well, we can’t do the job unless everything’s illegal,” he says. He points out that the hemp industry itself has lobbied for a 21-and-over age limit for years without legislative action. “Now they’re going to turn around and blame the industry for their own failures.”
According to Gates, an age restriction is common sense. “It’s just insane that a 10-year-old can go into a convenience store and, if they’ll sell it to him—which they probably won’t—walk out with it,” he says. “The people who violate that need to be prosecuted.” He likens the needed enforcement to alcohol sales: stores ID customers, police run compliance checks, and violators face penalties.
Gates says there is no evidence that hemp-based THC is causing the kinds of public safety problems SB5’s supporters claim. In his decades as an officer, he says THC rarely factored into violent crimes or serious incidents. “Probably 75% involved alcohol at some level,” he says of domestic disturbance calls. THC by contrast “would probably have a devastating effect on available Doritos” but little else.
Gates says that banning hemp-derived THC would push consumers back to the black market. “We’ve got a pretty good situation here in Texas now,” he says. “If it’s not a legal product that’s taxed and regulated, then it’s going to be the black market.” He believes that would make law enforcement’s job harder by reviving illicit networks that the 2018 Farm Bill helped dismantle.
He also points to disproportionate impacts on minority communities. According to him, bans hit certain groups harder in the criminal justice system because of vague assumptions. “If it’s a white girl, it’s hemp. If it’s a brown guy or a black guy, it’s going to be marijuana,” the difference being, “He’s going to go to jail.”
According to Gates, the better path is to “treat it like alcohol, age gate it, prosecute those who sell to minors, and keep intoxicated drivers off the road.” He also supports allowing Texas farmers to grow hemp, which he says would create jobs, generate tax revenue, and keep production under state oversight.
“I haven’t seen any evidence to support that public safety is at risk because of it,” Gates says of legal hemp-derived THC. “The good officers are focused on drunk drivers, not enforcing some plant regulation,” he says. The reason is because with drunk driving, “that’s where people die.”