(The Center Square) – Drive through almost any Tennessee town and you will likely pass a retailer selling cannabis or hemp-related products, even though recreational marijuana is not legal in the state.

So why are these products legal to sell? The reason goes back to a bill approved by Congress in 2018.

Recreational marijuana is still against federal law. But the 2018 farm bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump legalized sales of cannabis products with a THC level of less than 0.3%. THC is the psychoactive compound that gives the “high” of marijuana.

Since the farm bill’s passage, states where recreational marijuana is not legal have been forced to set regulations. Only 24 states have legalized it, with Pennsylvania possibly becoming the 25th one this year, according to NORML, a group that advocates for legal and responsible use of marijuana.

In Tennessee, Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, likened the cannabis industry to the “wild west” during the 2025 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. He sponsored Senate Bill 1413, which would move the regulation of hemp products from the Department of Agriculture to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

The bill also adds taxes to cannabis products. A two-cent per milligram tax would be added to vapes and edibles and a 10-cent tax on drinks with hemp. Flower sales would be taxed at 50 cents per ounce.

The legislation bans products with THC-A and THC-P, which were part of the farm bill.

Tennessee is not the only state trying to regulate products that have become very popular.

Part of the reason states have been scrambling since the farm bill passed is because the Food and Drug Administration did not move fast enough to regulate the products, Morgan Fox, NORML’s political director, said in an interview with The Center Square.

“So we are faced with a situation, where because the FDA did not move quickly enough to regulate CBD and there was not place to sell it, people started getting creative and started developing products from their naturally hemp-derived compounds that they could turn into sellable products that had a huge market,” Fox said.

From an access point of view, it’s good, Fox said. But from a consumer safety point of view, it’s not.

“Because there are a lot of really bad actors out there and all of these products are unregulated,” Fox said. “There is no age-gating and a lot of them are sold online. There are a lot of bad manufacturing practices at work. I mean there are good actors out there, don’t get me wrong. But there are also people that will say that their products are lab tested and have QR codes take you to websites that have falsified lab reports.”

On the safety side, there’s not a lot of information on the impact of the substances outside of the banned Delta-9 THC, according to Fox.

Fox is not sure Senate Bill 1413 is going to help lawmakers corral the “wild west.”

“You are probably going to see a lot of Whac-A-Mole,” Fox said. “I think it’s going to be almost impossible to enforce on the synthesized cannabinoid end of the spectrum. Basically all this bill does is regulate CBD products.”

The bill, which would take effect on Jan. 1, is awaiting Gov. Bill Lee’s signature.

(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-District of Columbia agents arrested 189 illegal foreign nationals and served notices of inspection to 187 local businesses during an enhanced targeted enforcement operation focused on finding “criminal alien offenders” illegally living in the Washington, D.C. area.

“The District of Columbia is exponentially safer today because of countless hours of investigative work and dedication to duty displayed by ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott said.

The ICE operation was part of ongoing Trump administration efforts to target the most violent offenders and with removal orders from federal immigration judges.

The multi-agency operation focused on finding “the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C.,” Hott said. “Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid. I commend the efforts of everyone involved, as all were truly committed to the success of this operation.”

Agencies involved in the four-day operation included ICE-ERO, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Virginia Department of Corrections, FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.

They focused on targeting “criminal alien offenders including members of transnational criminal organizations known to operate in and around Washington, D.C.,” including MS-13, Tren de Aragua and 18th Street Gang, ICE announced Tuesday. TdA and MS-13 were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration in February.

“The success of this enhanced operation highlights the resolve of ICE and our federal partners in keeping our country safe from criminal alien offenders,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck said. “Many of the aliens arrested have egregious criminal histories to include violent crimes against residents of our Washington, D.C. communities.”

Many arrests were made after local jurisdictions and so-called sanctuary cities refused to honor immigration detainers and released illegal foreign nationals onto the streets, ICE said.

After District of Columbia officials implemented a wide range of so-called sanctuary policies and as the border crisis worsened, the mayor declared a public emergency in 2022. Her repeated requests for assistance from the National Guard were rejected by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to implement consequences for local jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement, including losing federal funding, The Center Square reported.

In addition to finding and arresting criminal offenders at large, ICE also served 187 notices of inspection to Washington, D.C.-area businesses to ensure they comply with federal immigration and employment law.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and this administration’s focus on law and order, these arrests represent a major step forward in making Washington, D.C., safer for legal citizens and their families,” U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. said. “These arrests make clear that violating our nation’s immigration laws will not be ignored.”

Examples of violent offenders arrested are all men illegally in the country. They either illegally reentered after previously being deported or illegally entered as a gotaway, those who illegally enter between ports of entry, don’t make asylum or other immigration claims and evade capture.

They include a 47-year-old Guatemala national with a criminal history of drug possession, illegal reentry, aggravated assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and sexual assault. His current criminal charges include “unlawful reentry of a previously deported alien, lewd acts, sex abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon,” among others. He also appears to have gang-affiliated tattoos on his arms, leg and chest, according to images posted by ICE.

Others were charged with “alien present without admission or parole,” meaning they illegally entered as a gotaway. They include a 25-year-old Guatemala national with a criminal history of “threat to kidnap, attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, threats to bodily harm and simple assault;” a 30-year-old Salvadoran national with a criminal history of driving while intoxicated, brandishing a machete and unauthorized use of a vehicle; a 36-year-old Mexican national with a criminal history of larceny, indecent exposure, theft and possession of a prohibited weapon-knife, among others.

Under the Biden administration, more than two million gotaways were reported, the most in U.S. history, The Center Square exclusively reported.

(The Center Square) – The Texas House has passed two bills related to gender and biological sex.

One, the Women’s Bill of Rights, codifies sex-based terms. The other requires insurance companies to provide coverage for those experiencing adverse effects from gender transition surgeries. Both passed along party lines with strong Democrat opposition.

State Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, filed HB 229, the Women’s Bill of Rights, which “defines what a woman is, recognizing biological reality,” she said. With its passage, “Texas is protecting safety, privacy, & rights of women & girls across our state.”

The bill is expected to pass the Texas Senate and be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.

It amends state government code to define the following terms:

• “boy” means a child of the male sex;
• “father” means a parent of the male sex;
• “female” and “woman” mean an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova;
• “girl” means a child of the female sex;
• “male” and “man” mean an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female;
• “mother” means a parent of the female sex; and
• “sex” means an individual’s biological sex, either male or female.

The bill establishes that males and females “possess unique immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as individuals age and experience puberty; biological differences between the sexes mean that only females are able to get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children and that males are, on average, bigger, stronger, and faster than females; biological differences between the sexes leave females more physically vulnerable than males to specific forms of violence, including sexual violence; females have historically suffered discrimination in education, athletics, and employment; biological differences between the sexes are enduring and may, in some circumstances, warrant the creation of separate social, educational, athletic, or other spaces in order to ensure individuals’ safety and allow members of each sex to succeed and thrive.”

The bill analysis points out that “inconsistencies in court rulings and policy initiatives” about sex-based definitions have led to “endangerment of single-sex spaces and resources, necessitating clarification of certain terms.” It also clarifies that when defining biological sex, “‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical’ and separate is not inherently unequal.” It also cites legitimate reasons to distinguish between two biological sexes including athletics, prisons and correctional facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms, among others.

When discussing the need to pass it on the House floor, Troxclair said, “For generations, our laws have recognized that women are distinct from men. This distinction is not just scientific. It’s legal, practical, and critical to protecting the rights, safety, and opportunities of women and girls across the state.

“We’re a state that believes in truth, and we’re a state that honors the hard-won achievements of women … but if we can no longer define what a woman is, we cannot defend what women have won. We cannot protect what we cannot define.”

The 58 Democrats who voted against defining what a woman is were: Allen; Anchía; Bernal; Bhojani; Bowers; Bryant; Bucy; Campos; Canales; Cole; Collier; Cortez; Davis, A.; Davis, Y.; Dutton; Gámez; Garcia Hernandez; Garcia, J.; Garcia, L.; Gervin-Hawkins; González, J.; González, M.; Goodwin; Hernandez; Hinojosa; Howard; Johnson; Jones, J.; Jones, V.; Lalani; Longoria; Lopez, R.; Manuel; Martinez Fischer; Meza; Moody; Morales Shaw; Morales, C.; Morales, E.; Muñoz; Ordaz; Perez, M.; Perez, V.; Plesa; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodríguez Ramos; Romero; Rose; Rosenthal; Talarico; Thompson; Turner; Vo; Walle; Ward Johnson; Wu; Zwiener.

The second bill that passed the House along party lines was SB 1257, filed by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, after passing the Texas Senate last month.

It requires health insurance companies to provide coverage for individuals dealing with adverse effects from gender transition procedures or who decide to “detransition.” State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, filed companion legislation, HB 778.

The bill is a “necessary and urgent legislative measure that seeks to ensure equitable healthcare coverage for individuals who have undergone gender transition procedures,” the bill analysis explains. Currently, health benefit plans in Texas provide extensive coverage for gender transition treatments, including surgeries, hormone therapies, and other medical interventions, but don’t provide coverage for adverse effects, medical complications, function recovery and reconstruction procedures resulting from the treatments. The bill fixes “a critical gap” by mandating that health insurance plans that provide transition-related coverage includes coverage for “follow-up care, adverse effect management, and potential reconstruction treatments.”

A “growing number of individuals who experience complications or regret their transition, … require extensive medical care to manage or reverse the effects of previous treatments” but are frequently denied insurance coverage, the analysis explains. As a result, they face “insurmountable out-of-pocket expenses, … significant health risks, including hormone imbalances, surgical complications, and psychological distress.”

The bill heads to the governor for his signature.