84R2894 BEF-D
By: Farias H.B. No. 557
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the growth or cultivation of industrial hemp for
certain research purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Section 12.050 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.050. INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Industrial hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa
L. and any part of that plant, whether growing or not, with a
delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3
percent on a dry weight basis.
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by 20 U.S.C. Section 1001.
(b) The department or an institution of higher education may
grow or cultivate industrial hemp as provided by 7 U.S.C. Section
5940.
(c) A person does not violate Section 481.120, 481.121, or
481.125, Health and Safety Code, if the person grows, cultivates,
manufactures, delivers, or possesses industrial hemp, or
manufactures, delivers, or possesses paraphernalia used for the
cultivation or processing of industrial hemp, as part of research
allowed under Subsection (b) and the person is:
(1) the department or an institution of higher
education participating in research allowed under Subsection (b);
or
(2) an employee, student, or other person affiliated
with the department or an institution of higher education
participating in research allowed under Subsection (b).
SECTION 2. Section 481.062(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The following persons are not required to register and
may possess a controlled substance under this chapter:
(1) an agent or employee of a registered manufacturer,
distributor, analyzer, or dispenser of the controlled substance
acting in the usual course of business or employment;
(2) a common or contract carrier, a warehouseman, or
an employee of a carrier or warehouseman whose possession of the
controlled substance is in the usual course of business or
employment;
(3) an ultimate user or a person in possession of the
controlled substance under a lawful order of a practitioner or in
lawful possession of the controlled substance if it is listed in
Schedule V;
(4) an officer or employee of this state, another
state, a political subdivision of this state or another state, or
the United States who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of a
law relating to a controlled substance or drug or to a customs law
and authorized to possess the controlled substance in the discharge
of the person's official duties; [or]
(5) if the substance is tetrahydrocannabinol or one of
its derivatives:
(A) a Texas Department of Health official, a
medical school researcher, or a research program participant
possessing the substance as authorized under Subchapter G; or
(B) a practitioner or an ultimate user possessing
the substance as a participant in a federally approved therapeutic
research program that the commissioner has reviewed and found, in
writing, to contain a medically responsible research protocol; or
(6) if the substance is industrial hemp, as defined by
Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, the Department of Agriculture or
an institution of higher education participating in research
allowed under Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, or an employee,
student, or other person affiliated with the Department of
Agriculture or the institution of higher education participating in
that research.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.