Tag: texas

Texas House Approves Bill To Expand Medical Marijuana Access With New Conditions, Products And Dispensary Locations

The Texas House of Representatives has given initial approval to a bill that would significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program.

After clearing committee last week, the bipartisan legislation from Reps. Ken King (R) and Penny Morales Shaw (D) passed the full House on second reading in a 118-16 vote on Monday. It will need a final third reading vote before potentially moving to the Senate.

The measure would expand the types of products patients could buy and also add multiple qualifying conditions for people to become registered patients.

“Back in 2015, Texas passed the Compassionate Use Act that allowed patients with epilepsy to access low-THC cannabis. Since then, the program has been expanded to include additional medical conditions, but Texans still struggle to get access to the medicine they’re legally allowed to receive,” King said on the floor. “There are not enough dispensing organizations licensed in the state, and current law limits how and where the products can be stored and distributed.”

Specifically, the measure would allow patients to access cannabis patches, lotions, suppositories, approved inhalers, nebulizers and and vaping devices. The currently limited list of qualifying conditions would be extended to include chronic pain, glaucoma, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal neuropathy, Crohn’s disease or other inflammatory bowel disease, degenerative disc disease and any terminal illness for patients receiving hospice or palliative care.

Military veterans would be able to become registered cannabis patients for any medical condition, and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) would also be authorized for further expand the list.

HB 46 would additionally mandate that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) issue 11 dispensary licenses within the 11 designated public health regions across the state. It would further allow dispensaries to open satellite locations if approved.

An amendment that was adopted on the floor would grandfather existing medical cannabis satellite locations, amend the patient application process, ensure that cannabis potency dosages are determined by their physicians, create a timeline for when new licenses must be issued, remove a 1.2 gram limit for possession by patients and instead allow doctors to prescribe an amount they see fit.

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Greg Abbott Says All Construction Halted for Muslim ‘EPIC City’

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state has stopped all construction on “EPIC City,” a proposed Muslim-themed development backed by the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC).

EPIC officials have repeatedly denied claims that the town would violate state law, or operate under Islamic legal systems. Despite that, the project is under scrutiny from multiple agencies, with Abbott saying the development faces “a half dozen investigations”.

Newsweek contacted the East Plano Islamic Center for a response to the governor’s comments via email.

The Context

The development proposal, dubbed “EPIC City,” covers 402 acres in Collin and Hunt counties. It has drawn backlash from Texas officials, including Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have accused organizers of potential legal violations. Abbott previously wrote in March that “legislators are considering laws to restrict it, as well as laws to prevent foreign adversaries from buying land in Texas.”

What To Know

On Sunday, Abbott said that his office had suspended the construction of EPIC City, which gets its name from the acronym of the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC).

The governor wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Texas has halted any construction of EPIC City. There is no construction taking place. The state of Texas has launched about a half dozen investigations into this project. That includes criminal investigations.

“And, the US Department of Justice is also investigating. This matter, and similar matters, are taken very seriously, and actions are being taken to address all concerns.”

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Texas Bill Would Require Solar Power Plants to Have Gas and Coal Backup

A bill working its way through the Texas legislature has caused some double takes with language that requires solar plants to provide power in the dark.

State bill S.B. 715 passed the Senate this week, and if adopted by the Texas house it would require any renewable power providers to buy backup power, typically from coal or gas plants, the Hill reported.

Texas consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in his analysis of the legislation that the measure would require solar plants to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway.”

Double takes aside, the legislation is part of three Republican bills advancing through the state legislature that could offset Texas’ green energy progress and give fossil fuels an advantage in the state’s energy market, Reason reported. Texas generates the most renewable energy in the nation.

The bill is supported by a conservative think tank called the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which argues traditional power sources are still needed to make up for the unpredictability of wind and solar power. As Breitbart reported, Texas faced power shortages and rolling blackouts in 2021 as cold weather and ice froze the state’s wind turbines.

A state business lobby group disagrees, evoking the same fear of blackouts. The Texas Association of Business (TAB) predicted the measure would lead to unpredictable supply, costing the state $5.2 billion more per year and individual consumers on average $225 more per year in power costs. In addition to cost increases, the TAB analysis asserted, Texans would also face a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer or in future ice storms.

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Biden’s Weaponized DOJ Crushed Texas Developer Who Blew Whistle on CCP Land Grab Scheme

In a saga that reads more like a political thriller than a real estate dispute, Texas businessman Timothy Barton is at the center of a high-stakes legal storm that some allege is less about justice and more about silencing dissent.

Timothy Barton—a Christian businessman, proud Trump supporter, and founder of the successful JMJ Development—has, in yet another glaring example of Biden-era political persecution, become the latest target of lawfare by a weaponized federal government more interested in shielding the Chinese Communist Party than protecting American citizens.

Barton’s “crime”? Sounding the alarm on what he believed to be a covert Chinese land acquisition scheme on U.S. soil.

Back in 2019, Barton was approached by a Chinese national named Haoqiang “Michael” Fu and his associate Steven Wall. They pitched him on partnering in high-value real estate developments across Texas. At first glance, it looked like a lucrative venture. But the deeper Barton got involved, the clearer the red flags became. Fu and Wall repeatedly failed to provide promised funding, while Barton was forced to keep the project afloat—personally.

Worse still, Barton discovered what he described as blatant financial fraud, including altered co-lender documents redirecting repayments straight to Fu. Convinced that the deal was a front for something far more dangerous—a CCP-backed scheme to influence and infiltrate American real estate — Barton did what any patriot would do: he reported the activity to Homeland Security.

But in Joe Biden’s America, doing the right thing gets you punished.

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DOJ Launches Investigation Into Planned ‘Sharia City’ with Mega Mosque and Sharia Compliant Schools Near Dallas

The Justice Department on Friday opened an investigation into the planned Sharia City near Dallas, Senator Cornyn said.

Last month Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched a campaign against a planned Islamic “mega-city” outside Dallas.

The East Plano Islamic Center, via its affiliate Community Capitol Partners, is seeking to construct a 1,000-home settlement around 40 minutes from Dallas.

The “Sharia City” would come complete with a mega mosque, Sharia adherent Muslim schools, community college, and sporting facilities.

KHOU reported:

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened an investigation into EPIC City, a Muslim-centric development proposed in Collin County, following calls from Sen. John Cornyn, among others, Cornyn announced Friday.

EPIC recently bought just over 400 acres of property north of Josephine near the intersections of County Roads 850 and 695 for the proposed development that includes more than 1,000 homes, a school, retail areas, parks and more centered around a mosque.

Conservative talk radio legend Mark Levin recently discussed the Islamic, Sharia Law compliant city being planned near Dallas and cited The Gateway Pundit’s report.

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Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Pro­tects Texas Envi­ron­ment and Secures $60 Mil­lion Judg­ment Against Recy­cling Com­pa­ny Dump­ing Chem­i­cals into River

Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a judgment of more than $60 million against David Polston and his companies, Inland Environmental and Remediation, Inland Recycling, and Boundary Ventures, for illegally dumping pollutants in Texas waterways and lands. 

In 2019, a tributary of the Colorado River called Skull Creek turned black with chemical pollution, killing fish and wildlife. Additionally, unpermitted pits of petroleum and chemical-laden earth and leaking chemical containers were discovered nearby, in violation of Texas law. The source was a sham recycling facility owned by Polston. Attorney General Paxton immediately sued to stop the pollution and spearheaded years of litigation that achieved an agreed final judgment penalizing Polston and his companies for their extensive environmental misconduct. When Attorney General Paxton learned the owner of the polluted site had been paid for waste disposal on his property, he successfully pursued a court order requiring the landowner to restore the polluted property.

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Texas Indicts 5 County Officials In Voter Fraud Investigation

Six Texas residents — five of whom are current or former local Frio County officials — were indicted on Wednesday in a voter fraud probe.

“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.

According to a Paxton press release, the six individuals are charged with allegedly engaging in illegal ballot harvesting activity. Texas law specifies that only a voter can return his absentee ballot, with limited exceptions.

Among the charged persons is Rochelle Camacho, a Frio County judge who a grand jury indicted on three counts of ballot harvesting. In addition to two Pearsall City Council members, the indictments also included former Frio County Elections Administrator Carlos Segura, who was charged with one count of “Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence,” according to Paxton’s office.

The state AG’s office noted that five of the named individuals were arrested last week, “with the exception of Rochelle Camacho, who will be processed at a later date.” Five of the six suspects have “ties to Democratic candidates,” The New York Times reported.

The charges stem from a series of search warrants executed last August by Paxton’s Criminal Investigation Division. The warrants were related to what the AG’s office characterized as “a multi-year election integrity investigation into credible allegations of vote harvesting” across Frio, Atascosa, and Bexar Counties.

What’s notable about the still-ongoing probe, however, is its encompassing of individuals tied to a prominent left-wing activist group.

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Democrat Judge Indicted in Ballot Harvesting Scheme, Public Officials Arrested

The Texas Attorney General’s office indicted a Democrat county judge and arrested several public officials, accusing them of scamming voters by engaging in an illegal vote ballot harvesting scheme.

A former Frio County elections administrator, a Frio County vote harvester, two Pearsall city council members, and a Pearsall school board member were all arrested last week on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and vote harvesting, with Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho also facing three counts of vote harvesting, while her “processing” is postponed for a later date.

“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system,” reads a statement from Texas AG Ken Paxton.

The AG’s office explained the arrests stem from cooperation with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis and a probe by its Criminal Investigation Division, which looked “into credible allegations of vote harvesting.”

“On May 1, 2025, Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis and the Election Integrity Unit of the Office of the Attorney General presented a criminal vote harvesting case to a grand jury in Frio County,” Paxton’s office wrote.

Here’s a list of the indicted and arrested public officials:

  • Frio County Judge, Rochelle Camacho: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
  • Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Carlos Segura: 1 count of Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence
  • Pearsall City Council, Ramiro Trevino: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
  • Pearsall City Council, Racheal Garza: 1 count of Vote Harvesting
  • Pearsall ISD Trustee, Adriann Ramirez: 3 counts of Vote Harvesting
  • Alleged Frio County Vote Harvester, Rosa Rodriguez: 2 counts of Vote Harvesting

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Texas House Approves Bill To Study Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy And Make Recommendations For Legal Access

The Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill that would establish a state-backed study into the use of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine to treat conditions such as PTSD and depression.

Lawmakers voted 98–41 to pass HB 4014, from Rep. John Bucy III (D), on second reading. A third reading vote on final passage, expected soon, would send the measure to the Senate.

The proposal is designed to help prepare the state for what supporters see as the eventual federal approval of psychedelic-assisted therapy. In its current form, it would create a study program under the state Health and Human Services Commission, which would assess clinical trials and published literature into the efficacy of psychedelics—specifically MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine—as a treatment PTSD, depression and other mental health disorders.

Officials would also review U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actions around the therapies, evaluate treatment guidelines and make recommendations to eventually ensure legal access for Texas patients.

“This bill will prepare Texas for the safe and efficient integration of psychedelic therapies into its healthcare system,” Bucy said on the House floor, “ensuring that Texans struggling with PTSD, depression and other mental health conditions have safe, affordable access to innovative treatment upon FDA approval.”

By December 1, 2026, the commission would need to provide a report to state lawmakers with results of the study as well as “any recommendations for legislative or other action necessary to ensure patient access to psychedelic therapies for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other co-occurring conditions after those therapies are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.”

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Elon Musk Gets His Own Texas City After Voters Approve Incorporation of SpaceX’s ‘Starbase’

A remote section of southern Texas, home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch site, has officially been designated as a city.

Named Starbase, the area was incorporated following a successful vote by local residents on Saturday.

Of the 283 eligible voters, most of whom are SpaceX employees, 212 voted in favour while just six opposed, according to results from Cameron County.

Musk celebrated the outcome on his social media platform X, writing: “Starbase, Texas is now a real city!”

The newly incorporated city spans 1.6 square miles (3.9 sq km) — a once sparsely populated stretch of land that SpaceX began acquiring in 2012.

Starbase will be governed by a mayor and two commissioners, with authority over planning, taxation, and other municipal affairs.

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