“Bad Science, Bogus Raids, and Bad Bills:
Over the past year, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has made no secret of his disdain for the legal hemp industry in Texas. He’s called it the “backdoor to marijuana legalization” and accused retailers of “selling drugs to kids” under the guise of legality. At a February 2024 press conference, he declared, “We’ve got to shut this down. These are drug dealers hiding behind a hemp license.”
Senator Charles Perry, the author of Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), doubled down during committee hearings, claiming, “This isn’t about regulating—this is about stopping a problem before we end up like Colorado.” Both men warned of a crackdown, and now, true to their word, that crackdown has arrived—not in the form of tighter regulatory oversight or better product labeling standards, but in pre-dawn raids, guns drawn, and headlines accusing small business owners of felony drug trafficking.
Behind the media blitz of cash seizures and confiscated gummies lies a quiet but consequential abuse of scientific process. The state is relying on flawed laboratory evidence—obtained through secretive “undercover” purchases and tested using questionable methods at Armstrong Forensic Laboratory, a private facility in Arlington contracted by law enforcement. The result? Lawful, state-registered hemp products, each batch accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis (COA) from a DEA-registered and ISO-accredited lab, are being re-tested and declared “hot” by Armstrong using outdated and inappropriate methods. Raids follow. Arrests follow.
Then come the photos of seized product, weaponry, and headlines about “drug busts”—all as the Legislature debates whether to ban the very products being smeared.
The Heart of the Dispute: What Makes a Product Legal?
Under both federal law (2018 Farm Bill) and Texas Agriculture Code, a hemp product is legal if it contains no more than 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by dry weight. Importantly, that threshold applies to delta-9 THC only—the psychoactive compound in marijuana. The presence of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), a non-psychoactive precursor to THC found in raw cannabis, does not make a product illegal —unless it is converted into delta-9 THC through a process called decarboxylation.
State-licensed hemp manufacturers know the rules. That’s why their products are tested at licensed laboratories using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), a method that measures delta-9 THC and THCA separately without converting one to the other. These tests provide a transparent, scientifically valid snapshot of the product’s compliance before it reaches store shelves. These are the COAs issued by DEA registered labs and required by Texas Department of State Health Services for sale.
But when those same products end up on the desks at Armstrong Labs— often acquired through undercover purchases by law enforcement—the story changes. Armstrong frequently tests these samples using Gas Chromatography (GC), a technique that involves heating the sample, which automatically converts THCA into delta-9 THC, artificially inflating the measurement and pushing otherwise compliant products above the legal threshold.
The Forensic Science Commission Weighs In
In April 2025, the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC) issued a final report on a complaint related to this exact practice. The case involved a man convicted based on a GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) test performed on a vape cartridge. The lab’s method caused all THCA in the product to decarboxylate into delta-9 THC,
resulting in a THC concentration that would not exist under normal use or storage conditions.
The Commission wrote plainly:
“GC-MS testing of cannabinoids that does not use a derivatization agent causes decarboxylation of THCA to delta-9 THC. This is not a limitation of the instrument—it is a result of the methodology.”
They further concluded:
“In this case, the reported result is based on a method that converted THCA to THC, and therefore reflects ‘total THC’ rather than just delta-9 THC… Prosecutors and courts must be made aware that testing conducted in this manner does not distinguish THCA from THC.”
In a just system, this warning would stop prosecutors cold. Instead, law enforcement agencies—coordinated by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)—are proceeding with search warrants and prosecutions based on these flawed lab reports. And when asked by reporters whether they are concerned about the reliability of the THC testing methods used, one senior officer reportedly replied, “We’re not getting into a scientific debate.”
The Real Strategy: Prohibition by Perception
This isn’t about public safety or scientific certainty. It’s a political operation, coordinated from the top, timed to influence legislative decision-making as Senate Bill 3 advances through the House. With the session set to adjourn in mere weeks, raids across the state are producing splashy headlines, SWAT-style photos, and allegations of criminality meant to cast all hemp retailers as bad actors.
The formula is familiar:
- Conduct a raid on a registered hemp business based on flawed lab data.
- Seize product, firearms, and cash, regardless of legality or context.
- Issue a press release using terms like “drug trafficking,” “distribution network,” and “organized crime.”
- Let the mugshots and media coverage do the rest.
But the reality is very different. These are not cartel fronts. These are law abiding small business owners, operating under the rules the state gave them, selling lab-tested and labeled products to adult consumers. Their
crime? Selling something that looks like marijuana but meets the legal definition of hemp—unless it’s retrospectively declared illegal through laboratory alchemy.
“As a chemical engineer and hemp entrepreneur, I can tell you flatly: relying on gas chromatography to test post-harvest products like vapes and gummies is not just inappropriate—it’s bad science,” said Nicholas Mortillaro, Co-Founder of CRAFT. “Gas Chromatography (GC) methods always alter the chemical composition of the sample, converting THCA into delta-9 THC during analysis. That’s not measurement—that’s transformation. It’s the analytical equivalent of cooking your evidence. If you’re trying to find the truth, you use a method like High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC,) which keeps the cannabinoids intact and tells you what’s actually in the product. Anything else misleads courts, misleads prosecutors, and criminalizes legal commerce based on lab error. That’s not forensics—it’s fiction.”
The Industry Must Speak
The state’s actions are not just punitive—they’re pretextual. The goal is to ban all forms of legal THC, especially THCA flower, by first creating a public perception of widespread criminality. If the Legislature cannot be convinced with policy, then perhaps it can be stampeded by sensational headlines.
But science still matters. Due process still matters. And for the hemp industry—and every citizen who expects government to wield power lawfully—it’s time to say: enough. The evidence is flawed. The raids are political. And the bills being pushed are based on fear, not fact.
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Bad science is being used to justify bad bills, enforced through bad faith raids. Texas deserves better—and the hemp industry must stand up before it’s too late.
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