Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick speaks at a press conference at the Texas Capitol on Monday, June 23, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Patrick hosted a press conference in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to veto Senate Bill 3, which would have banned the sale of THC products in Texas. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Monday that he would not agree to Gov. Greg Abbott’s calls to regulate THC products — which he equated to legalizing marijuana in Texas — setting up an apparent impasse between the state’s two most powerful Republicans as lawmakers are set to return to Austin this summer.

Patrick, the biggest champion of outlawing hemp-derived THC products, said he believes Abbott put lawmakers in a box by vetoing the ban and urging them to treat the booming industry similarly to the way Texas handles alcohol.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick speaks at a press conference at the Texas Capitol on Monday, June 23, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Patrick hosted a press conference in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to veto Senate Bill 3, which would have banned the sale of THC products in Texas. Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

“What Governor Abbott proposes is for us to legalize marijuana in Texas — by regulating it,” Patrick said during an at-times heated press conference at the Capitol on Monday.

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READ MORE: What to know about the future of hemp THC rules in Texas after Abbott’s veto

“I’m not going to legalize marijuana in Texas,” Patrick said. “If people want to vote me out of office for that, so be it. Not going to do it.”

Since legalizing hemp farming in 2019, Texas has seen a boom of companies and stores selling hemp-derived THC strains that can produce the high traditionally associated with marijuana, which is banned in the state except for certain medical uses. Patrick says the sellers are exploiting a loophole in the law.

The $8 billion hemp industry currently operates with little state oversight, and if state leaders can’t come to an agreement, the status quo will continue.

Abbott argued in his veto on Sunday that the full ban, though “well-intentioned,” would face “valid constitutional challenges” that could tie it up in litigation for years. The only other state to attempt a similar ban was Arkansas in 2023, Abbott said in his veto message, and it was blocked in federal court.

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Instead, Abbott called for regulations on the hemp industry that are “strict, fair and legally sustainable.” He suggested lawmakers pass regulations similar to those in place for alcohol, such as prohibiting sales near schools and playgrounds, restricting access to those who are 21 and older and allowing strict enforcement by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Patrick, who presides over the state Senate, said those regulations were not feasible, arguing the industry had already grown too large for state regulators to catch up. He said the issue was a matter of life and death, arguing the hemp-derived THC products currently sold in stores are dangerous, especially for children.

“You cannot regulate 8,000 stores — law enforcement knows that,” Patrick said. “The only way you can regulate it is for him to say that no product could be sold with more than 3% (THC), and that it would be taxed very heavily — because that would put them all out of business.”

The THC saga exposes a deep rift in what was a productive legislative session for the state’s top Republicans. Abbott and Patrick have butted heads at times in the past, but appeared to be in virtual lockstep as Republican lawmakers easily pushed through a slew of conservative bills.

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Patrick said he was caught off guard by Abbott’s move late Sunday night to veto the THC ban that was one of the lieutenant governor’s top priorities, claiming the governor had previously assured him he would sign the bill.

“We usually find common ground. But this veto, this late — after he told me he was going to sign it: ‘Your bill’s fine,’” Patrick said. “I didn’t start this. I did my work. We did our legal work. We talked to lawyers, we made sure this was constitutionally sound.”

A spokesman for the governor said Abbott “has always shared the Lieutenant Governor’s desire to ensure that THC products are not sold to our children and that the dangerous synthetic drugs that we have seen recently are banned.”

“SB 3 was well intentioned but legally flawed and this is why he is putting it on the special session agenda so that it can be fixed, improved and signed into law,” said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Abbott. “We should not risk years of potential legal battles when we can fix the bill and protect kids now. Governor Abbott looks forward to working with the legislature to pass a strong bill that is on sound legal footing.”

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Abbott had been publicly quiet on the issue for months, repeatedly declining to comment as Patrick, who leads the state Senate, went on a messaging campaign to extinguish the industry, including personally confronting hemp store employees and staging press conferences with THC products.

Patrick had proclaimed he had “never been more passionate about anything” during his legislative career and at one point threatened to hold up other key legislation if the THC ban did not succeed.

In recent weeks, Abbott faced an intense pressure campaign to veto the ban from hemp proponents, including business owners and veterans groups. Some said the state’s medical marijuana program is too expensive and restrictive, so the hemp-derived THC has helped to address their ailments.

The ban had been written to take effect on Sept. 1 and would have created significant criminal penalties for possessing, manufacturing and distributing a variety of consumable products that have become ubiquitous in grocery stores, gas stations and vape shops across Texas.

The lieutenant governor said Monday that he had worked with Abbott this session on the governor’s priority legislation establishing a cybersecurity hub in San Antonio, which Patrick said he did not initially support. But he said he asked Abbott for an argument for the bill and eventually came around.

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“I took it home, I read it for the weekend, and I said, ‘I’m with you, you made your point’,” Patrick said.

Patrick said Abbott did not extend the same courtesy on his THC ban.

“Where was he on this bill?” Patrick said. “He could have talked to us at any time. The speaker, myself, members — he didn’t ever discuss this. And then to parachute in at the last moment over the will of the Senate and the House.”

“We will work through it, hopefully,” Patrick said. “But it’s not the state I want. I don’t want my kids, my grandkids, growing up in a state where everybody’s high.”

A Texas House committee initially advanced a bill closer to what Abbott is promoting, which would have created new industry fees and rules while banning vapes, synthetic compounds and packaging marketed to children. But on the House floor, members adopted a last-minute amendment to reinstate the full ban favored by Patrick in a vote that fell mostly along party lines.

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House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican in his first term leading the chamber, has yet to weigh in publicly on the veto.