| 1 | 1 | | 84R21000 BEF-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Farias, Simpson, Israel H.B. No. 557 |
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| 3 | 3 | | Substitute the following for H.B. No. 557: |
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| 4 | 4 | | By: González C.S.H.B. No. 557 |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to the growth or cultivation of industrial hemp for |
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| 10 | 10 | | certain research purposes. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by |
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| 13 | 13 | | adding Section 12.050 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 12.050. INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH. (a) In this |
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| 15 | 15 | | section: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) "Industrial hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa |
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| 17 | 17 | | L. and any part of that plant, whether growing or not, with a |
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| 18 | 18 | | delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | percent on a dry weight basis. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning |
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| 21 | 21 | | assigned by 20 U.S.C. Section 1001. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) The department or an institution of higher education may |
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| 23 | 23 | | grow or cultivate industrial hemp as provided by 7 U.S.C. Section |
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| 24 | 24 | | 5940. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (c) A person does not violate Section 481.120, 481.121, or |
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| 26 | 26 | | 481.125, Health and Safety Code, if the person grows, cultivates, |
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| 27 | 27 | | manufactures, delivers, or possesses industrial hemp, or |
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| 28 | 28 | | manufactures, delivers, or possesses paraphernalia used for the |
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| 29 | 29 | | cultivation or processing of industrial hemp, as part of research |
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| 30 | 30 | | allowed under Subsection (b) and the person is: |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) the department or an institution of higher |
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| 32 | 32 | | education participating in research allowed under Subsection (b); |
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| 33 | 33 | | or |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) an employee, student, or other person affiliated |
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| 35 | 35 | | with the department or an institution of higher education |
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| 36 | 36 | | participating in research allowed under Subsection (b). |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 2. Section 481.062(a), Health and Safety Code, as |
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| 38 | 38 | | amended by S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular |
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| 39 | 39 | | Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 40 | 40 | | (a) The following persons are not required to register and |
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| 41 | 41 | | may possess a controlled substance under this chapter: |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) an agent or employee of a registered manufacturer, |
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| 43 | 43 | | distributor, analyzer, or dispenser of the controlled substance |
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| 44 | 44 | | acting in the usual course of business or employment; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) a common or contract carrier, a warehouseman, or |
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| 46 | 46 | | an employee of a carrier or warehouseman whose possession of the |
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| 47 | 47 | | controlled substance is in the usual course of business or |
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| 48 | 48 | | employment; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (3) an ultimate user or a person in possession of the |
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| 50 | 50 | | controlled substance under a lawful order of a practitioner or in |
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| 51 | 51 | | lawful possession of the controlled substance if it is listed in |
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| 52 | 52 | | Schedule V; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (4) an officer or employee of this state, another |
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| 54 | 54 | | state, a political subdivision of this state or another state, or |
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| 55 | 55 | | the United States who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of a |
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| 56 | 56 | | law relating to a controlled substance or drug or to a customs law |
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| 57 | 57 | | and authorized to possess the controlled substance in the discharge |
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| 58 | 58 | | of the person's official duties; [or] |
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| 59 | 59 | | (5) if the substance is tetrahydrocannabinol or one of |
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| 60 | 60 | | its derivatives: |
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| 61 | 61 | | (A) a Department of State Health Services |
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| 62 | 62 | | official, a medical school researcher, or a research program |
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| 63 | 63 | | participant possessing the substance as authorized under |
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| 64 | 64 | | Subchapter G; or |
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| 65 | 65 | | (B) a practitioner or an ultimate user possessing |
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| 66 | 66 | | the substance as a participant in a federally approved therapeutic |
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| 67 | 67 | | research program that the commissioner has reviewed and found, in |
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| 68 | 68 | | writing, to contain a medically responsible research protocol; or |
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| 69 | 69 | | (6) if the substance is industrial hemp, as defined by |
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| 70 | 70 | | Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, the Department of Agriculture or |
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| 71 | 71 | | an institution of higher education participating in research |
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| 72 | 72 | | allowed under Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, or an employee, |
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| 73 | 73 | | student, or other person affiliated with the Department of |
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| 74 | 74 | | Agriculture or the institution of higher education participating in |
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| 75 | 75 | | that research. |
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| 76 | 76 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 77 | 77 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 78 | 78 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 79 | 79 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 80 | 80 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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