Texans’ access to a variety of hemp-derived THC products will significantly narrow on Friday.
Texas will ban several hemp-derived THC cannabis products, including those containing delta-8 and delta-10 THC variants, punishing people in possession of them with jail time and fines. However, delta-9 THC, the most commonly sold THC product in Texas, will remain legal.
This is the latest blow to the state’s hemp industry, which has been consumed with uncertainty over the last several months as flurries of court of actions have ripped products off shelves and then put them back on.
The recent change stems from a Texas Supreme Court decision in May that allowed the Texas Department of State Health Services to reclassify all hemp-derived THC, except for low-dose delta-9 THC, as a schedule I drug, prohibiting its possession and sale in the state. The ruling ended a 2021 injunction that paused DSHS from enforcing the new classification, which effectively allowed stores to stock different kinds of THC for the past five years.
Cannabis experts say Friday’s ban could remove more than half of the THC products off some stores’ shelves.
“It’s a pretty big blow, and it’s recriminalizing a lot of cannabis products that have been completely legal and allowable in the state for many years, so we’re taking steps backwards toward prohibition,” said Sarah Todd, media representative at Texas Cannabis Policy Center.
See here for the previous update. It’s going to be rough for a lot of small businesses.
When Molly Mathias first opened her cannabis shop in Dallas’ Bishop Arts, she hoped to create space in the industry that she hadn’t found elsewhere.
In a departure from the intimidating, confusing and sometimes unfriendly tone of the shops she was used to, she built Go Easy to be welcoming, women-led and self-care focused.
But after six years navigating the industry’s erratic legal landscape, Mathias, who grew up in Grand Prairie, is tired of her own state working against her.
Go Easy will permanently close its doors after July 31 — when Texas will ban smokeable hemp products and other items containing delta-8, delta-10, and several other cannabinoids.
For the over 9,000 businesses that are licensed to sell hemp products in Texas, the move is just the latest blow after years of uncertainty and legal back-and-forth as state lawmakers attempt to squander the industry.
Gov. Greg Abbott cleared the path in 2019, when he signed House Bill 1325 legalizing the sale and production of products containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC.
“That’s kind of like just a little bit glimpse of what this business is like, especially in Texas,” Mathias said. “One week you’re doing good, you’re successful, the next week, your business could completely get shut down and go bankrupt. The back and forth for small businesses is just so intense and crazy for us.”
Mathias said smokeable products made up about 50% of the shop’s sales. Without them, it would be too difficult for the small business to compete with larger corporations that sell non-smokeable hemp products, like Target and Total Wine, she said.
The effect on businesses like this one has been a large part of the discussion about the attempt to ban most hemp products, which eventually became Abbott’s executive order about smokable hemp. I have wondered what effect it may have on this election, since the idea of a ban is largely unpopular. Obviously, there are bigger issues that have dominated the conversation – data centers, ICE raids, gas prices, etc – but I bet a lot of those affected business owners vote. And they also know the threat of a broader ban is still present.
Key Republicans are already planning another attempt at banning all THC products in Texas, insisting that the tighter regulations Gov. Greg Abbott imposed through an executive order last year aren’t doing enough.
“I’m filing the ban again,” state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said during a hearing at the Texas Capitol last week. “There’s nothing good in this stuff. There’s no virtue in it.”
Perry’s comments come just over a year after Abbott vetoed Perry’s previous attempt to ban all hemp-derived THC products. Abbott said then that the bill was “well-intentioned” but would not have survived legal challenges. Instead, Abbott pushed for tighter regulations and tougher enforcement of current laws to lower the potency of what is available on the market and keep other products from getting into the hands of children.
Texas has more than 8,500 retailers selling hemp-derived THC products, including gummies and drinks. Some estimates say the burgeoning industry is now worth $8 billion.
Perry said attempts to regulate the industry aren’t working. He accused the THC industry of constantly changing its methods to get around whatever regulations the state puts in its way. And he pointed to data from the Department of State Health Services that show an increasing number of hospitalizations and calls to poison control hotlines for THC and cannabis complications over the last few years.
“So there’s no path to fix this other than getting rid of it,” Perry said of his plans for the next legislative session, which starts in January.
I would think that the people in the THC business are generally aware that Dan Patrick has been the driving force behind this, and I would hope they’d vote accordingly. It’s on the ballot, however visible it is.