The Brief
A West Texas official livestreamed herself smoking marijuana on TikTok in protest of a proposed ban.
The DA directed the action toward Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a key proponent of the ban.
The bill, which would ban all THC products, passed the Senate and is now headed to the House.
MONAHANS, Texas - A Republican elected official in West Texas directed a livestream of her smoking marijuana towards the lieutenant governor's crusade to ban the substance.
District Attorney Sarah Stogner lit a joint on TikTok last week in an effort to bring attention to the looming special session item; a near-carbon-copy of the ban vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott at the end of the regular session.
Texas DA lights up online
Stogner, DA of the 143rd Judicial District in Ward County, put out a press release on Aug. 2 announcing her intent to livestream the event on TikTok. She addressed Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the release, calling him out for a "new, even more restrictive marijuana law."
Stogner said she went to New Mexico to purchase the marijuana from a dispensary before bringing it home to smoke in West Texas.
She went live at 4:20 p.m. that day to smoke the joint, and continued to address Patrick on X after the fact with photos and video clips of the online event.
What they're saying
"Our law enforcement on the ground don’t support it. It’s silly and takes LE away from real crime," Stogner said in an Aug. 3 post on X. "The solution: legalize. Smell no longer gives PC to search a vehicle but reasonable suspicion to make sure the driver isn’t intoxicated. It’s not that difficult."
After her livestream, Patrick posted about an unrelated special session issue on X, to which Stogner replied with a screenshot of her livestream.
"Free the plant Dan," she said in the reply.
Special Session push for Texas THC ban
The backstory
Senate Bill 5, the special session bill banning THC, passed the Senate Friday and now heads to the House. It would prohibit the sale of products containing any amount of THC, the active component in marijuana, while still allowing for the sale of non-intoxicating cannabinoids like CBD and CBG.
Abbott vetoed a nearly identical bill during the regular session, citing concerns about legal challenges and urging lawmakers to instead regulate the products. Following the veto, Patrick vowed the Senate would pass a full ban again.
The ban comes as an attempt to remedy a legal loophole created by a federal law passed in 2019, which legalized hemp farming across the nation and accidentally opened the door to a multi-billion-dollar industry of hemp-derived THC products.
The relatively new substances that flooded the market as a result are reported to give users a comparable "high" to normal marijuana, without the legal implications prohibiting the controversial plant's use in states like Texas and Arkansas. The latter state recently won a years-long legal battle legitimizing a similar ban on hemp-derived THC products.
What's next
The House has filed legislation identical to SB 5 but has not yet held a hearing. Should the House pass the bill, Abbott would again have the choice of whether to veto the measure or call lawmakers back for another special session.
The Source
Information in this report came from a Texas elected official's public social media account.
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