As reported by the Houston Chronicle, the city’s Forensic Science Center has devised a chemical testing procedure capable of differentiating between hemp and psychoactive cannabis. In June 2019, the law that defines hemp and ‘weed’ became effective: it distinguishes them from each basing on whether they are above 0,3% THC content. The maneuver, intended to serve as an added business safety for hemp farmers, created an issue at the prosecution level: THC content has to be proven, since this bill passed. And, a that time, Texas laboratories were not equipped to provide the analytical evidence that entities like state-licensers or prosecutors need to enact regulations.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now maintains a lengthy and growing list of hand sanitizer brands that consumers should avoid, having confirmed they contain as much as 81% methanol and other impurities including potentially deadly 1-propanol. "While hand sanitizers and associated claims are regulated by the FDA, the agency now has a waiver program due to the unprecedented time of COVID-19 which doesn't require manufacturers to substantiate label claims. This was in an effort to allow hand sanitizers to get on shelves quickly, under the assumption manufacturers would continue good manufacturing practices," explains Mike Sandoval, President of Santé Laboratories, a bio-hemp pharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO).

Marijuana possession arrests in the state of Texas dropped 30% in 2019 compared to the previous year, according to data recently released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Texas legalized hemp last year, forcing law enforcement officials to drop low-level marijuana cases across the state due to the crop being virtually indistinguishable from the psychoactive and illegal form of cannabis. 

In order to prosecute someone for marijuana possession, a test proving the seized plant contains a THC content above 0.3% would need to be carried out.

The Austin Police Department will no longer cite or arrest people for small possessions of cannabis, Police Chief Brian Manley wrote in a July memo. The announcement essentially decriminalized weed possession in the city, but data shows that marijuana arrests were already trending downward statewide.

There were some very big numbers bandied about when the Texas legislature paved the way for hemp to be grown in the state, with some predicting earnings of up to $40,000 an acre. The reality is that hemp farming has fallen far below such lofty promises.

Despite the nationwide interest in CBD oil for everything from chronic pain to pet anxiety, the hemp market has flattened considerably. Calvin Trostle at Texas A&M AgriLife is the school’s hemp specialist, and he’s seeing the bubble burst for a variety of reasons.

“Prices available to growers are down 85 percent from the 2019 season,” he said. “Nationwide, in spite of new states like Texas coming on the permitted acreage was down 29 percent from 2019.”

In Bergheim, Texas, just north of San Antonio, there’s a skunky smell in the air.

“You know, that’s a really good description. Skunky is a very typical terpene that is in most of these plants,” Austin Ruple said.

He’s the president and co-owner of Pur IsoLabs – a hemp and cannabidiol, or CBD company that grows hemp and manufactures retail CBD products.

Ruple stood next to a field of more than 300 hemp plants – a type of cannabis that’s rich in CBD, a legal compound that does not get users high. These plants contain no more than 0.3% THC – the psychoactive component that does get users high.

Increasing demand for safety and high-quality medical products has added impetus to cannabis testing services and will contribute to the growth of the global cannabis testing market, which is set to grow by 13.4% by 2025.

According to a Global Market Insights, Inc., report, the growing prevalence for these tests by cultivators and manufacturers will bolster the industry trends. The Bureau of Cannabis Control, as of March 2018, had issued about 26 temporary licenses to testing laboratories in California.

With the legalization of hemp at the federal level with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, it wasn’t long before a new industry based on the increasing popularity of cannabidiol began to take root across the country. But the growth of that industry is at risk in Indiana and Texas, where bans on hemp flower threaten the livelihoods of farmers and small business owners alike.

Though Texas lawmakers legalized the production and sale of hemp in its last legislative session, the state has now created a framework that essentially bans the sale of “smokable” products.

Edible goods, tinctures and topicals remain okay under the new program. But farmers and cannabis activists alike have voiced concern that lawmakers violated the scope of the original legislation.