More Texas Republican voters oppose the recently approved bill to ban intoxicating hemp products than support it, according to a recent survey by Ragnar Research Partners.
The survey, which polled 800 likely Republican primary voters in Texas, found that 47% of respondents opposed the ban, while 37% said they supported it and 16% said they were unsure. Additionally, the pollster found that 45% of likely Republican voters oppose banning THC, with 35% in support and 21% uncertain.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) still has not signaled whether he will or won’t sign the bill — or whether he is considering a veto, Marijuana Moment reported. If the bill does become law, advocates say that the state’s hemp industry, which provides more than 53,000 jobs, will be gutted.
The Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC) said in a press release that it has submitted 5,000 hand-written notes and over 180,000 petition signatures calling on the governor to veto the bill. Mark Bordas, THBC’s executive director, said in a statement, “Texans do not want SB 3. Texans recognize SB 3 for what it is: an attack on the rights and liberties of Texans that will destroy tens of thousands of jobs.”
“We respectfully ask the Governor to listen to veterans, small business owners, Republican primary voters and others who want him to veto this heavy-handed bill. We went out of our way to conduct the most credible poll possible, in which the segment of the voting population least likely to support our cause was queried.” — Bordas, in a statement
The governor has until July 22 to decide whether to sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing and allow the proposal to become law without his signature.
