Judge Temporarily Lifts Texas Ban on Smokable Hemp Sales

Texas retailers can resume selling smokable hemp products after a Travis County judge temporarily blocked some of the state’s sweeping new regulations on the hemp industry.

What’s happening

On March 31, the Texas Department of State Health Services enacted rules changing how THC content is measured in consumable hemp, which industry experts said effectively outlawed most smokable products containing the natural hemp flower.

The Texas Hemp Business Council, a federal hemp industry group, and several local hemp companies sued the state April 8, arguing that the state health department does not have the authority to reclassify legal THC levels and warning that Texas businesses faced “significant economic harm” due to the changes.

State officials have defended the rules, saying they are in line with a September executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott, who at the time called for stricter oversight of the multibillion-dollar hemp industry. Abbott previously vetoed an outright ban on consumable hemp sales.

Community Impact reported that the DSHS increased the annual fees, which companies must pay to operate in Texas, by more than 3,000%. Retailers are required to pay $5,000 per retail location each time they renew their operating license, up from $150 previously. Hemp manufacturers must pay an annual fee of $10,000 per facility, up from $250.

Guerra Gamble let the higher fees stay in place in her temporary restraining order.

During a January public hearing, some Texans said increasing licensing fees and tightening other regulations would help the state protect consumers and ensure children cannot access consumable hemp products.

“Cannabis advocates say that this is a billion-dollar industry, so it's fair and appropriate for the people who profit from selling a billion dollars of intoxicating and harmful products to pay fees that help cover the costs associated with the regulation and societal burden of the product's harms,” Betsy Jones, the policy and strategy director at Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth, said Jan. 9.