https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/stephen-simpson/The latest news by Stephen Simpson.enTue, 01 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/01/texas-hemp-thc-marijuana-medical-regulations/Medical program leaders want a ban on synthetic delta-8 THC, which makes up the bulk of consumable hemp products.By Stephen SimpsonTue, 01 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/01/texas-hemp-thc-marijuana-medical-regulations/Texas Original Director of Cultivation Jason Sanders gives a tour of the business’ facility on Sept. 26, 2024. Texas Original is Texas’ first licensed medical cannabis distributor.Texas Original Director of Cultivation Jason Sanders gives a tour of the business’ facility on Sept. 26, 2024. Texas Original is Texas’ first licensed medical cannabis distributor.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/24/texas-psychologist-licensing-exam/Texas and other states have criticized a decision by the national psychologist licensing board to add another expensive test in order for psychologists to become certified.By Stephen SimpsonTue, 24 Jun 2025 14:50:27 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/24/texas-psychologist-licensing-exam/Chair John Bielamowicz speaks during a Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists meeting on April 11, 2024 in Austin. During the meeting, the state board met with the Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards to discuss the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.Chair John Bielamowicz speaks during a a Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists meeting Thursday, April 11, 2024 in Austin. During the meeting, the state board met with the Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards to discuss the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology.Maria Crane/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/23/texas-hemp-regulations-age-restriction-enforcement-thc-sb-3/Hemp industry leaders say they agree with regulations similar to how the state regulates alcohol.By Stephen SimpsonMon, 23 Jun 2025 17:15:21 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/23/texas-hemp-regulations-age-restriction-enforcement-thc-sb-3/The Texas Original cannabis farm on Sept. 26, 2024. Experimenting with different ways to cultivate cannabis, growers use red light to bleach the flower of the plant.The Texas Original cannabis farm on Sept. 26, 2024. The red light is an experimental form of growth where the light bleaches the flower of the plant.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/20/texas-nursing-home-disabilities-intellectual-developmental-lawsuit-IDD/A federal judge determined the state illegally institutionalized severely disabled people for decades, often in poorly run facilities.By Stephen Simpson and Zach DespartFri, 20 Jun 2025 14:23:09 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/20/texas-nursing-home-disabilities-intellectual-developmental-lawsuit-IDD/An employee of the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center walks with a resident on April 1, 2021.An employee of the Amistad Nursing and Rehabilitation Center walks with a resident on April 1, 2021.Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-thc-hemp-medical-marijuana-ban-veterans-pain/Texas hemp users stockpile products and consider moving out of state as ban looms, saying the medical marijuana program is currently an untenable alternative.By Hayden Betts and Stephen SimpsonTue, 17 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-thc-hemp-medical-marijuana-ban-veterans-pain/Wesley Barnes, 55, at his home in Onalaska, Texas on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Barnes, a Gulf War veteran who has long struggled with pain, tried legal opiates and illegal THC over the years before finding affordable and effective relief in legal hemp flower beginning in 2018.Wesley Barnes, 55, stands for a portrait at his home in Onalaska, Texas on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Barnes, a Gulf War veteran who has long struggled with pain, tried legal opiates and illegal THC over the years before finding affordable and effective relief in legal hemp flower beginning in 2018.Ishika Samant for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-bail-criminal-justice-reform-parole/Texas lawmakers approved a sweeping package to overhaul the state’s bail system, a longtime priority of Gov. Greg Abbott’s.By Stephen SimpsonTue, 17 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/17/texas-bail-criminal-justice-reform-parole/An empty visitation window at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Jan. 31, 2024. This year Texas lawmakers approved many criminal justice bills, including some to reform the state's bail system and increase local law enforcement collaborations with immigration authorities. Many proposals to address problems at the state's jails and prisons were left on the table.An empty visitation window at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Jan. 31, 2024.Maria Crane/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/texas-legislature-health-bills-abortion-vaccines/Amid a quiet legislative session for health, lawmakers’ priority legislation reinforced the U.S. health secretary’s agenda.By Terri Langford, Stephen Simpson and Eleanor KlibanoffFri, 13 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/13/texas-legislature-health-bills-abortion-vaccines/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/11/texas-psychedelics-ibogaine-treatment-addiction-rick-perry-funding/Lawmakers have approved funding clinical trials for ibogaine as a treatment for addiction and brain trauma. It comes as Texas contemplates banning THC.By Stephen SimpsonWed, 11 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/11/texas-psychedelics-ibogaine-treatment-addiction-rick-perry-funding/The Rotunda seen from the Capitol Extension in Austin on Aug. 11, 2021.The Rotunda seen from the Capitol Extension in Austin on Aug. 11, 2021.Sophie Park/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/06/texas-hemp-marijuana-drugs-policy-legislature/Texas passed sweeping changes to cannabis policy, including expanding the medical marijuana program and banning hemp products, while also boosting psychedelics research.By Stephen SimpsonFri, 06 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/06/texas-hemp-marijuana-drugs-policy-legislature/A hemp plant at Caprock Family Farms in Lubbock on May 23, 2025.Hemp plants are seen at Caprock Family Farms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock.Annie Rice for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/29/texas-air-conditioning-state-prison-jail-heat-summer/House Bill 3006 would have required the installation of climate control in state prison by 2032.By Stephen SimpsonThu, 29 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/29/texas-air-conditioning-state-prison-jail-heat-summer/Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Memorial Unit in Brazoria County on July 12, 2017. The prison was called the Darrington Unit until 2023.Inmates shuffle past new fans in the TDCJ Memorial Unit in Brazoria Co. on July 12, 2017. The prison was called the Darrington Unit until 2023.Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/28/texas-social-media-ban-legislature-abbott/House Bill 186, approved by the lower chamber in May, never received a vote in the Senate.By Stephen SimpsonWed, 28 May 2025 23:12:51 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/28/texas-social-media-ban-legislature-abbott/Students check their phones while waiting for the bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 29, 2023.Students check their phones while waiting for the bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 29, 2023.Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-medical-marijuana-weed-hemp/House Bill 46, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, would include more patients with chronic pain and allow for prescribed vaporized and aerosol products, such as vapes.By Stephen SimpsonTue, 27 May 2025 23:14:47 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-medical-marijuana-weed-hemp/An engineer at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation in South Austin tests medical marijuana for impurities in 2021.An engineer at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation in South Austin tests for impurities on April 30, 2021.Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/25/texas-film-incentives-commercials/SB 22, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, injects $300 million over the next two years into projects filmed in Texas, $100 million more than current funding.By Stephen SimpsonSun, 25 May 2025 21:55:33 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/25/texas-film-incentives-commercials/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-hemp-THC-retail-smoke-shop-ban/Some hemp retailers are looking at other states, while others say they are ready to take Texas to court over a THC ban.By Stephen SimpsonThu, 22 May 2025 18:15:17 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-hemp-THC-retail-smoke-shop-ban/Products line the shelves of the newly restocked De Vega CBD Relief vending machine in Leander on Nov. 1, 2022.Products line the shelves of the newly restocked De Vega CBD Relief vending machine in Leander on Nov. 1, 2022.Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/19/texas-ban-minors-tiktok-facebook-snapchat-social-media/The Texas Legislature has already passed a bill requiring age verification to download apps and is seriously considering another to ban children from social media.By Stephen SimpsonMon, 19 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/19/texas-ban-minors-tiktok-facebook-snapchat-social-media/Texas lawmakers could ban minors from social media.Cell phone illustration.Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-AC-prison-heat-summer/House Bill 3006 would require the installation of climate control in state prison facilities by 2032.By Stephen SimpsonThu, 15 May 2025 21:24:41 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/15/texas-AC-prison-heat-summer/About two-thirds of Texas’ prison inmates reside in facilities that are not fully air conditioned in housing areas.Birds fly overhead at the Hilltop prison unit in Gatesville on Nov. 25, 2019.Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/12/texas-marijunia-medical-chronic-pain-crohns-cancer-glaucoma-ptsd/House Bill 46 would increase the number of health conditions eligible and would offer smokeable products under the state’s medical marijuana program.By Stephen SimpsonMon, 12 May 2025 17:30:03 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/12/texas-marijunia-medical-chronic-pain-crohns-cancer-glaucoma-ptsd/Workers sort strawberry-passionfruit CBD gummies at the Texas Original facility on Sept. 26, 2024. Texas Original is Texas’ first licensed medical cannabis distributor.Workers sort strawberry-passionfruit CBD gummies at the Texas Original facility on Sept. 26, 2024. Texas Original is Texas’ first licensed medical cannabis distributor.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/texas-measles-spread-oklahoma-new-mexico/The outbreak that originated in Texas has spread into multiple states. And, the summer will be the real test of how much bigger this outbreak can grow.By Stephen SimpsonThu, 08 May 2025 15:47:48 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/texas-measles-spread-oklahoma-new-mexico/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/07/texas-gun-voting-poll-election/Supporters said the bill would protect poll workers who continue to face violent threats.By Stephen SimpsonWed, 07 May 2025 18:07:02 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/07/texas-gun-voting-poll-election/Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on Election Day at the Esperanza Acosta Memorial Library in El Paso on Nov. 5, 2024.Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on Election Day at the Esperanza Acosta Memorial Library in El Paso on Nov. 5, 2024.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/07/texas-fentanyl-strips-legal-overdoses/Opponents fear that fentanyl test strips will increase the usage of the deadly drug.By Stephen SimpsonWed, 07 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/07/texas-fentanyl-strips-legal-overdoses/Fentanyl test strips are displayed at a Texas Harm Reduction Alliance drop-in center in Austin on May 5, 2025. Their organization can’t legally buy testing strips but accepts donations from other states.The Texas Harm Reduction center distributes fentanyl test strips, classified as drug paraphernalia in Texas, on May 5, 2025.Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune