By Sunday, Texans will know whether the hemp-derived THC products that have been legal in the state since 2019 will be banned as of September 1. During the Eighty-Ninth Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 3, which would end a $5.5 billion industry and which now sits on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. Sunday is the deadline for him to either veto the bill—breaking with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who made SB 3 a priority during the session and pushed it through both chambers with zeal—or allow it to become law.
Lukas Gilkey, an Austin-based U.S. Coast Guard veteran, cofounded the cannabis company Hometown Hero, which has been producing hemp-derived THC products since 2019, and has emerged as one of the most outspoken opponents of the ban. The 44-year-old has gone viral for his social media posts responding to Patrick and defending the industry. With just days to go before Abbott determines the fate of the industry, we asked him to explain his position and make his pitch to the governor for why weed is good for Texas.
Texas Monthly: So there’s an argument that legalization of these products in 2019 was kind of an accident: The Legislature legalized hemp, mirroring language that appeared in the federal farm bill the previous year, and in the process allowed the proliferation of certain derivatives that it did not consider. And so the argument goes that what it has done this session is just correcting an oversight. Does that hold water for you?
Lukas Gilkey: Knowingly or unknowingly, they legalized these products, and subsequently a fully legal industry was created from that decision. This industry has over four billion dollars in retail sales in Texas. It’s created over 53,000 jobs, over eight thousand small businesses. If they wanted to correct it, it should have been done much sooner, rather than letting so many Texans enter this industry under the assumption it was legal and the politicians were okay with it. They allowed this thing to grow and then changed their mind six years later when they could have done it in 2021. Why did they not?
Hellbound and Down 