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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the growth or cultivation of industrial hemp for |
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certain research purposes. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by |
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adding Section 12.050 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 12.050. INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH. (a) In this |
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section: |
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(1) "Industrial hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa |
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L. and any part of that plant, whether growing or not, with a |
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delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 |
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percent on a dry weight basis. |
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(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning |
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assigned by 20 U.S.C. Section 1001. |
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(b) The department or an institution of higher education may |
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grow or cultivate industrial hemp as provided by 7 U.S.C. Section |
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5940. |
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(c) A person does not violate Section 481.120, 481.121, or |
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481.125, Health and Safety Code, if the person grows, cultivates, |
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manufactures, delivers, or possesses industrial hemp, or |
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manufactures, delivers, or possesses paraphernalia used for the |
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cultivation or processing of industrial hemp, as part of research |
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allowed under Subsection (b) and the person is: |
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(1) the department or an institution of higher |
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education participating in research allowed under Subsection (b); |
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or |
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(2) an employee, student, or other person affiliated |
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with the department or an institution of higher education |
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participating in research allowed under Subsection (b). |
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SECTION 2. Section 481.062(a), Health and Safety Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) The following persons are not required to register and |
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may possess a controlled substance under this chapter: |
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(1) an agent or employee of a registered manufacturer, |
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distributor, analyzer, or dispenser of the controlled substance |
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acting in the usual course of business or employment; |
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(2) a common or contract carrier, a warehouseman, or |
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an employee of a carrier or warehouseman whose possession of the |
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controlled substance is in the usual course of business or |
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employment; |
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(3) an ultimate user or a person in possession of the |
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controlled substance under a lawful order of a practitioner or in |
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lawful possession of the controlled substance if it is listed in |
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Schedule V; |
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(4) an officer or employee of this state, another |
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state, a political subdivision of this state or another state, or |
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the United States who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of a |
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law relating to a controlled substance or drug or to a customs law |
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and authorized to possess the controlled substance in the discharge |
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of the person's official duties; [or] |
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(5) if the substance is tetrahydrocannabinol or one of |
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its derivatives: |
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(A) a Texas Department of Health official, a |
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medical school researcher, or a research program participant |
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possessing the substance as authorized under Subchapter G; or |
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(B) a practitioner or an ultimate user possessing |
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the substance as a participant in a federally approved therapeutic |
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research program that the commissioner has reviewed and found, in |
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writing, to contain a medically responsible research protocol; or |
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(6) if the substance is industrial hemp, as defined by |
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Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, the Department of Agriculture or |
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an institution of higher education participating in research |
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allowed under Section 12.050, Agriculture Code, or an employee, |
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student, or other person affiliated with the Department of |
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Agriculture or the institution of higher education participating in |
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that research. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |