Marijuana
John Cornyn (R)
Cornyn has consistently opposed federal marijuana legalization, rescheduling, and decriminalization, citing public-health and law-enforcement concerns. He voted against the MORE Act in committee work and has expressed concern about the SAFER Banking Act's interaction with federal scheduling. He supported the Hemp Farming Act's regulated industrial hemp framework but has expressed concern about delta-8 THC loopholes and supports federal-level closure of the high-THC hemp gap. He has not joined Paxton's lawsuits against Texas municipalities over local decriminalization ordinances and treats those as a state matter. He has not engaged with Talarico's HB 4089 / HB 5307 framework directly but his stated federal position is incompatible with state-level adult-use legalization.
James Talarico (D)
Talarico would legalize regulated marijuana for adults, expunge past convictions, and use tax revenue for substance-abuse treatment and public-safety programs. He filed HB 4089 in 2021 and HB 5307 in 2025 to legalize adult use (up to 2.5 oz possession, 6 home-grown plants, 12 per household). He was the most visible opponent of Texas's 2025 SB 3 THC ban, calling it 'insane' and 'a gift to the cartels.' On Joe Rogan's podcast he accused Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of holding a flood-emergency bill hostage to pass the THC ban. He has framed legalization as 'part of ending the racist war on drugs' that has targeted Black and brown Americans.
Sources
- Sen. John Cornyn, official Senate website and 2026 re-election campaign issues page, accessed May 2026 (cornyn.senate.gov; johncornyn.com). (full list)
- Talarico for Texas, official campaign issues pages (taxes, education, healthcare, immigration, social media/AI, freedom-family-faith, public-safety-justice, corruption-democracy, labor-business), accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Newsweek, 'Texas pushing through THC ban — Here's who's exempt,' May 2025 (Talarico called it 'a gift to the cartels'). (full list)
- Marijuana Herald, March 2025 (HB 5307); KVUE, April 2021 (HB 4089). (full list)