Dan Patrick’s Political Theater
Dan Patrick’s Political Theater Has Real Victims—and Texans Are Paying the Price.
SB 2024: The Vape Bait-and-Switch
Sold as a defense against youth vaping, SB 2024 instead criminalizes flavored disposable vape products made in China or not FDA-authorized—effectively banning almost all available products in Texas. No grace period. No inventory relief. No respect for small retailers.
But global manufacturers shifted production months ago to Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The “China ban” doesn’t block supply—it just cripples Texas retailers, while larger players quietly retool abroad.
Meanwhile, the packaging provisions are so vague and subjective that enforcement will depend entirely on perception, not fact. This creates a legal gray zone ripe for selective prosecution and abuse—with consequences borne disproportionately by minority-owned businesses and communities already over-policed.
A Blow to Liberty—and the Truth
What do you get when you pair bad science with political ambition, amplify it through law enforcement spectacle, and suppress the only agency qualified to call it out?
You get SB 3 and SB 2024.
You get a government that requires untrained officers to make felony arrests based on inaccurate lab results. You get “probable cause” traffic stops based on smell, suspicion, and outdated testing methods—the very ingredients that have driven racial disparities in policing for decades. You get executive overreach disguised as legislative prudence. You get governance by grievance, not by principle.
Dan Patrick plays MAGA, but his playbook is from the swampiest parts of the Deep State playbook: manufacture a threat, consolidate authority, and eliminate competition—then wrap it in MAGA red.
Texas Values Demand Better
Texas lawmakers have long claimed they don’t want to “pick winners and losers”—that they believe in free markets and level playing fields. But Dan Patrick turns that principle on its head. With bills like SB 3 and SB 2024, he handpicks the winners, criminalizes the rest, and blames the casualties on “the children.”
Texas values demand something better. We demand cannabis policy built on science, not superstition. We demand regulatory oversight from independent experts—not puppet labs with a financial stake in every conviction. We demand a free market—not a rigged cartel. And we demand leaders who tell the truth—not ones who choreograph its suppression.
Dan Patrick’s final act may be complete—but the damage is ongoing. Businesses are being raided. Lives upended. Patients are being abandoned. And trust in Texas government is being shredded for the sake of applause lines and power plays.
The show is just about over. The consequences are just beginning.
⸻
