“The beer companies would prefer a ban because they’re losing market share to THC drinks,” said Cynthia Cabrera, chief strategy officer with the hemp company Hometown Hero. “Rather than just participate in the market, they would rather do what they’ve done for 100 years and make sure that there is no competition in the beer market.”
Abbott, who is the last hurdle in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign for a statewide THC ban, is already under a ferocious onslaught of public pressure to veto the bill from veterans’ groups, hemp industry leaders and even some prominent conservative commentators. He has until June 22 to decide. Petitions are delivered to the governor’s office asking Gov. Greg Abbott to veto SB3, which would restrict THC, on the last day of the 89th Texas Legislature at the Capitol in Austin, Monday, June 2, 2025.
The alcohol industry wasn’t particularly loud during the committee hearings or other public debate, but has sway at the Capitol and with the governor. Abbott’s campaign treasurer is John Nau, the prior owner of Silver Eagle Distributors, one of the nation’s largest beer wholesalers. Nau has donated nearly $1.5 million directly to Abbott’s campaign since 2020, according to campaign finance data. John Rydman, the president and an owner of the Houston-based liquor store chain Spec’s, gave the governor $185,000 in that time.
Both the liquor and beer lobbies also give regularly to House and Senate members.
Alcohol distributors have long opposed decriminalization of marijuana, fearing it could siphon off their customer base amid already-declining alcohol consumption trends.
But the arrival of hemp-derived THC beverages in the last year, accounting for a growing portion of sales at liquor stores, has changed the calculus for some.
National surveys show alcohol sales have declined in recent years across multiple categories like beer and spirits. Young adults are also less likely to report consuming alcohol than in prior decades. Meanwhile, cannabis and hemp products are becoming increasingly popular.
“Liquor stores are really viewing this as a growth lever,” said Jake Bullock, CEO of the THC drinks company Cann. “As younger folks, and the whole general population, are reevaluating its alcohol consumption more broadly, liquor stores see that, they understand it.”
For the last year, Cann has sold on shelves at Total Wine & More, which has 39 stores across Texas, and has proved “extraordinarily” popular, Bullock said, outselling some established categories like chardonnay in a recent quarter. Spec’s also added delta-8 infused seltzers to its 250 stores last year.
The Texas Package Stores Association, which represents liquor distributors, recently posted graphics on X advocating against a THC ban and arguing beverages should be sold through their existing regulatory channels.
An early version of the ban contained a carve-out for THC beverages, allowing them to still be sold and regulating them just like traditional alcohol. But that language was quashed when the House voted to swap the bill for a broad ban resembling the Senate’s, with many lawmakers concerned that Patrick would hold up other key legislation like public school funding without his priority THC ban.
State Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, who authored the bill that would have exempted beverages, argued during a committee hearing in April that beverage products were distinct from other categories that have been marketed to minors.
“We are banning all consumables, other than drinkables, to ensure that there are no products that could be mistaken for a child’s favorite such as a gummy, cereal or candy,” King said.
Meanwhile, groups including the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas launched a “Safer Texas Alliance” project in recent weeks, producing videos and advertisements arguing in favor of a ban. In one series of videos posted on YouTube, a mother identified only as Maricruz says her son started vaping a THC product when he was 25 years old.
“We didn’t know anything about the risk, the damage it could cause. Especially because there’s nothing natural about it,” she said.
Liquor stores are likely hoping Texas will avoid going down the path of California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom banned hemp-derived THC products last year over concerns that children were easily accessing the products. Recreational marijuana is still legal in California for adults over 21 years of age and if purchased from a licensed retailer.
Texas, however, doesn’t have a recreational market, leading some in the industry to argue that banning the products will push current consumers to the illicit market. “Texas has a drug problem, but it’s not related to two milligram drinks in little pink cans,” said Bullock. “It’s related to the cartels and is dangerous, and this ban emboldens them.”
