Texas cannabis policy has never been shaped only by lawmakers. It has been shaped by farmers who drove to Austin, business owners who learned to testify, patients who took the day off to speak, veterans who told their stories and organizers who spent years building coalitions nobody else was building. Texas Cannabis Advocacy Pioneers is our series on five of them, written from public sources and told in a positive light, with a plain note on what we could and could not confirm.
The Profiles
Colton Luther
A commercial hemp cultivator and podcast host, Luther spoke against SB 3 on the last day of the 2025 session, sat across from the governor that summer, and is now telling the industry to start drafting bills for 2027.
Lukas Gilkey
A Coast Guard veteran who built an Austin hemp company from the trunk of his car, Gilkey helped beat the 2021 delta-8 ban, gave veterans’ charities tens of thousands of dollars and carried the industry’s case to the Senate.
Austin Zamhariri
Long before hemp and marijuana bills filled the Capitol, Zamhariri and the Texas Cannabis Collective were testifying, lobbying and running local decriminalization campaigns across the state.
Karen C. Reeves
Reeves, founder of CenTex Community Outreach, has shown up at Senate and House hearings to tell lawmakers what a THC ban would mean for patients. “If I don’t speak up, who will?” she says.
Shaun Salvaje
Salvaje, the Texas Cannabis Collective’s veterans outreach director, moved from documenting the military as a photojournalist to educating the public about cannabis, plant medicine and veterans’ access.
Common Threads
- Showing up works. The 2021 delta-8 ban died, SB 3 was vetoed in 2025 and two special sessions ended without a THC ban, with hemp advocates in the room for each.
- Different roles, one goal. A grower, a business founder, a nonprofit director, a patient and a veterans’ outreach director each reached lawmakers in a different way.
- Their own media. Several of them built podcasts and platforms so that Texans could hear the story directly.
- 2027 is next. Marijuana bills are already filed for the 90th Legislature. See where the hemp and THCA bills are.
Get Involved
You do not need a title to take part. Use the Texas Cannabis Action Center to find and contact your state representative and senator, read our 2027 session guide to see how hearings and testimony work, and follow what is legal after December 11.
How We Report This Series
Each profile relies on public records, news coverage, organization websites and podcast listings, linked at the bottom of the page. We use the words of the people profiled only where we can attribute them to a source, and we flag details that sources disagree on. This series is not a ranking or an endorsement, and it is not complete: many Texans have shaped this movement. Know someone we should profile? Send us a tip.