Marijuana Moment: Texas Democrats Call Out Paxton For Dodging Cannabis Question As Joe Rogan Warns THC Ban Could Turn The State Blue

[Tokeativity]

The Texas Democratic Party is calling out the Republican candidate in a high-stakes election for a seat to represent the state in the U.S. Senate over his refusal to answer a question about cannabis policy.

The party is also pointing to a warning that podcaster Joe Rogan issued to Republicans, saying they will turn the state blue by pushing too hard to crack down on the availability of THC products.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who is the GOP nominee for a Senate seat that’s on the ballot in November, was shown in a video posted to X on Saturday being asked what his thoughts are on the “state’s THC ban.”

“I don’t know the details of it, but let’s talk later,” he replied before quickly stepping away.

Paxton, in fact, has sued to overturn local voter-approved marijuana decriminalization laws in several cities across Texas.

His office has also defended hemp product restrictions in court against lawsuits from the industry. That includes a recently enacted ban on certain hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC. Now classified as Schedule I drugs under state law, possession is treated as a felony, carrying a punishment of 180 days to two years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

A judge last week declined hemp companies’ request to impose a temporary restraining order on the THC crackdown while the overall litigation is considered.

The Texas Democratic Party pounced on Paxton’s inability to answer the cannabis question, saying in a press release that he appeared to be “in a panic” when being pressed about the “incredibly unpopular” THC ban before proceeding to “run away” from the questioner.

Q: What's your thoughts on the state's THC ban?

KEN PAXTON: Uhm. I don't know the details of it, but let's talk later.

(Paxton is currently being sued because he's trying to enforce Texas's ban to the maximum extent possible, so this is a lie!) pic.twitter.com/DmGT6nVcje

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2026

“Ken Paxton is a coward who runs from questions because he has no answers for his wildly unpopular positions,” Texas Democratic Party Spokesperson Ryan Martin said. “Paxton knows Texans hate this THC ban he has pushed onto people with his nanny-state agenda.”

“For Paxton, the state’s top law enforcement officer, to claim he doesn’t ‘know the details’ of the laws is beyond insulting,” he said. “No Comment Ken can dodge questions all he wants, but come November the people will be holding him accountable at the ballot box.”

The party’s press release also noted that Rogan, who lives in and operates a comedy club in Austin, discussed the issue on an episode of his podcast that was posted on Thursday.

“They’ve done the THC thing,” he said. “Here’s what Texas doesn’t understand. You will fuck this place up and you will turn the whole thing blue.”

“Kids will turn on you if you tell them they can’t smoke weed,” Rogan said. “They know weed’s not killing anybody.”

Meanwhile, the Democrat in the Senate race, James Talarico, supports legalizing marijuana and suggested in a recent interview that that Paxton supports banning cannabis in order to aid his political donors in the alcohol and tobacco industries.

“It doesn’t make any sense until you follow the money and realize that it is big beer and big tobacco that are funding the politicians, like Ken Paxton, who turned around and banned these safe THC products in order to enrich the big beer and a big tobacco lobby,” Talarico, who currently serves as a state representative, said.

In a separate interview earlier this month, the Democratic candidate said that keeping marijuana illegal while also moving to restrict hemp THC products is an “insane” form of “corruption.”

“Think about what industries are most worried about THC products being readily available: Big Beer, Big Tobacco, right? And so they were the ones pushing this THC ban because it hurts their bottom line,” he said. “And a lot of research shows that THC—cannabis—these products are safer and less addictive than than beer or tobacco.”

“And so to me, this is a prime example of what corruption looks like when you’ve got big industries buying politicians and pushing bills that harm people, but benefit them financially,” Talarico said.

Voters in Houston will decide on an initiative to make misdemeanor marijuana possession the “lowest possible enforcement priority” for local police on the November ballot.

Image element courtesy of AnonMoos.

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