Should Texas Ban THC—or Let Markets and People Decide?

Originally published on Substack. 

Markets Regulate Better Than the Nanny State Ever Could

SB 5, the proposed ban on hemp products is back for another round in the Texas Legislature. Supporters say it’s about protecting people. But what it really says is: Texans can’t be trusted.

Let’s be clear—this is prohibition. And prohibition always backfires. It didn’t work for alcohol. It didn’t work for marijuana. And it won’t work for federally legal hemp products.
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Texans won’t stop using these products. They’ll just find them elsewhere—online, on the street, or across state lines. And without legal access, safety disappears. No labeling. No transparency. Just risk.

In contrast, open markets hold businesses accountable. They reward trust and quality, not back-alley sales and gray-market gimmicks. That’s how real safety happens—not by banning products, but by allowing people to choose wisely.

Real Threats? Tobacco and Alcohol, Not Hemp

The data tells the truth:

• Tobacco kills about 28,000 Texans each year
• Alcohol abuse kills over 10,600 Texans annually
• Drunk driving alone claimed 963 Texas lives last year
• Federally legal hemp products? Zero confirmed deaths

Yet somehow hemp is the emergency?

This isn’t about harm. It’s about control. And it’s hurting the very people lawmakers claim to protect.

This Bill Hurts Families, Freedom, and Honest Work

Supporters say SB 5 is “pro-family.” But how?

• Jailing a father for selling a legal gummy?
• Raiding a single mom’s shop over a paperwork issue?
• Shuttering a veteran’s business that helps people manage stress and sleep?

This doesn’t help families. It breaks them.

And it doesn’t stop crime. It just moves it underground and burdens our already-overwhelmed courts. It turns peaceful Texans into felons while violent criminals walk free.

We should be closing jails—not filling them with nonviolent entrepreneurs.

We Don’t Need More Rules—We Need More Trust

Some want a heavy-handed alternative to the ban. But Texans don’t need the state to babysit them. They need government to get out of the way.

Let responsible adults make their own decisions. If a product’s bad, people stop buying. If it’s good, it earns trust. That’s how markets work—and how freedom thrives.

We don’t ask the state to inspect every beer bottle or cigar. Why demand more for a hemp product that’s caused far less harm?

Trust Texans, Not Politicians

SB 5 violates everything Texas stands for: family, freedom, and free enterprise.

• It criminalizes peaceful business owners.
• It punishes choice with jail time.
• It grows government in the name of “conservatism.”

That’s not how we lead. That’s not how we prosper.
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Texans don’t need a THC nanny state. We need a government humble enough to let people live their lives.