Convenience Big Store: CORRECTED: Should pot products be legal in Texas?

SPRING SALE! 25¢ for 3 Months

Make a fresh start with full access.

Act Now

Spring Sale Ends April 6
Cancel Anytime.

Good morning.

Marijuana isn't legal in Texas, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. In the last few years, following a change to federal hemp laws, nicely packaged cannabis products have become widely available in clean, well-lit places — grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, bars and restaurants — and loads of Texans use them.

Now Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling to outlaw all THC products, and that bill, SB3, has been approved by the Texas Senate. The Texas House is considering a very different bill, HB 28, which would impose stricter oversight and licensing requirements for the hemp industry, not ban THC altogether.

Would you please take a minute to let me know what you think? How would that ban affect you or people in your life? Click here to let us know. We'll take responses through midnight Tuesday, then I'll report back later this week.

— Lisa Gray

P.S.: Sorry about that messed-up newsletter we sent this morning. We goofed up.

Lisa Gray, Op-ed Editor

lisa.gray@houstonchronicle.com

Our picks

This undated photo provided by Johanny Sanchez shows Sanchez, right, and her husband Franco Caraballo, who was sent over the weekend to El Salvador accused by the Trump administration of belonging to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. (Johanny Sanchez via AP)

Photo by: AP

When a tattoo means deportation, every American should be alarmed | Editorial

By Houston Chronicle Editorial Board

The Trump administration's deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador without due process betrays American values.

Students play cards during recess in their first week at school under a new law that forbids the use of mobile phones on campus, at Porto Seguro School in Sao Paulo, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.

Photo by: Andre Penner, AP

Jonathan Haidt: Texas can lead in stopping smartphones from harming kids

By Jonathan Haidt

Addictive tech is harming our children, writes the author of "The Anxious Generation." But the Texas Legislature is considering one of the country's strongest measures to fight back.

FILE - Demonstrators march and gather near the Texas Capitol following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, June 24, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Photo by: Eric Gay, Associated Press

At last, a bipartisan bill with a clear emergency abortion exemption | Editorial

By Houston Chronicle Editorial Board

Doctors in Texas have withheld lifesaving abortions out of fear of prosecution. A bipartisan bill on medical exemptions would give them the clarity they need.

Renderings of exterior carnival space as part of the Astrodome Conservancy's redevelopment plan, Vision: Astrodome.

Photo by: Gensler Houston

Reactivate the Astrodome. That's what Houstonians want. | Opinion

By Carol Quillen, Phoebe Tudor

Leaders from the Astrodome Conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation call for bringing the Astrodome back to life.

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - MARCH 01: One year-old River Jacobs is held by his mother, Caitlin Fuller, while he receives an MMR vaccine from Raynard Covarrubio, at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. Cases of Measles are on the rise in West Texas as over 150 confirmed case have been seen with one confirmed death.(Photo by Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)

Photo by: Jan Sonnenmair, Getty Images

Get your measles vaccine because my baby can't. | Opinion

By Leah Binkovitz

It's not a personal choice for everyone.

FILE - Raphael Glucksmann at the European Parliament Tuesday, March 11, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France.

Photo by: Pascal Bastien, AP

Is Trump afraid of a French space scientist visiting Houston? | Opinion

By Robert Zaretsky

The Trump administration's DOGE is stirring fear and dread in the scientific community.

Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 6, named the Damon Allen Act in memory of a state trooper who was murdered by an individual out on bond in 2017, into law at the Safer Houston Summit Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, at Bayou Events Center in Houston. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, back right, Rep. Reggie Smith, and Kasey Allen, widow of Allen, were present at the signing.

Photo by: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

Local DAs need Austin's support to reform the criminal justice system | Opinion

By Sean Teare

Sustainable crime prevention requires a broader vision beyond "tough on crime" soundbites.

Mattress Mack stands for photos with families at Gallery Furniture on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 in Houston. McIngvale used his store as a shelter to help people who are still suffering from power outages after Hurricane Beryl.

Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio, Staff Photographer

Mattress Mack saves America by binging on thin mints | Thumbs

By Houston Chronicle Editorial Board

Also: Has UH basketball coach Kelvin Sampson earned a jet yet?; Chambers County hosts 'Super Bowl of Birders'; Houston Texans' rent worth two McDonald's

Photo by: Cleveland TX Fire Department

NASA wildfire scientist: Wildfires have changed. Protect your home.

By Lisa Gray

Out-of-control wildfires aren't just for dry, desert-y places anymore. Here's why — and how to protect your home.

Firefighters respond to a wildfire near Cleveland, Thursday, March 20, 2025.

Photo by: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

Texas is burning. Lawmakers must act | Editorial

By Houston Chronicle Editorial Board

There are dozens of wildfires raging across Texas straining state, local and volunteer fire departments.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the media in the Grand Foyer during a tour at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after leading a board meeting on March 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. After shunning the annual Kennedy Center Honors during his first term in the White House, Trump fired the centerâ€™s president, removed the bipartisan board of Biden appointees and named himself Chairman of the storied music, theater and dance institution. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Photo by: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Exhausted by Trump news? That's his strategy. | Opinion

By Jennifer Mercieca

Overwhelmed by Trump stories? That's the plan.

From our readers

A woman wearing a sequin jacket watches the numbers com in during a Republican watch party at Marriott Marquis Hotel on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Houston.

Photo by: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer

'Republicans don't need to change a thing' | Q&A with Lisa Gray

Lisa Gray asked what Texas Republicans should do to stay in power, given the likely midterm backlash against Trump. A major theme: Why change what's working?

Siblings Jordan Sauceda, 8, from left, Jaslynn Sauceda, 7, and , Jaylina Sauceda, 13, run across the flood water outside their house on 30th Street on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Galveston.

Photo by: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle

Rising sea levels? C'mon. Who's afraid of 0.25 inches? | Opinion

A Chronicle headline said sea-level rise was "unprecedented" in 2024. Yawn.

Medical school graduates Dr. Jayme Castillo, left, and Dr. Ashley Mack jump from the Alkek Fountain for a photo as they celebrate after picking up their graduation gowns outside Baylor College of Medicine on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 in Houston. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the medical school will holds a live virtual graduation on May 21, 2020.

Photo by: Brett Coomer, Staff Photographer

Trump's NIH cuts will irreparably weaken medical research | Opinion

Indiscriminately slashing funding for educational research institutions will do irreparable harm, writes a medical doctor.

Send us your letters and op-eds

We want to hear from you! Have an opinion or a response to one of our stories? Learn how to submit your op-eds or letters here or shoot us an email at viewpoints@chron.com.

Katy Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris and Mayor Dusty Thiele.

Photo by: Houston Chronicle Staff

EVENT: Meet Katy Mayor Dusty Thiele and Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris

Join the Chronicle's private Zoom with Katy Mayor William "Dusty" Thiele and Mayor Pro-Tem Chris Harris on Thursday, April 3 at 12 p.m. to discuss the city's growth and exciting new developments.