(Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/The Austin American-Statesman vi
Temporary relief could soon be on the way for Texas hemp retailers and consumers.
A coalition of Texas hemp businesses and advocacy groups filed an emergency lawsuit Tuesday seeking to halt new state rules said to have effectively wiped out the legal hemp market overnight.
Article continues below this ad
The lawsuit targets new state regulations that count THCA, a compound that turns into psychoactive THC when heated, toward the legal 0.3 percent THC threshold. Since many smokeable products sold in Texas are high in THCA, retailers say the calculation eliminates a significant amount of their inventory. The rules also sharply raised annual licensing fees and added stricter testing, labeling and record keeping requirements.
Collectively, plaintiffs in the suit argue Texas Department of State Health Services and the state Health Human Services Commission overstepped their authority by imposing rules that failed to pass the Texas Legislature in 2025.
“The agencies did through rulemaking what the Legislature declined to do through the democratic process,” said Texas Hemp Business Council in a statement.
In announcing the changes, however, the agencies note that these amendments were made after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed departments to amend rules to prohibit the sale to minors, add age verification requirements, update testing requirements and more.
Article continues below this ad
What the new rules do
The regulations currently imposed are now counting a previously-ignored compound found in hemp, known as THCA, toward total legal THC capacity.
Prior to the ban, many smokeable hemp products sold in Texas stores contained the compound THCA, which creates a psychoactive effect comparable to marijuana when heated.
That detection effectively wipes out all smokeable hemp products like flower and rolled joints, stripping some local shops of up to 70% of their total inventory.
Article continues below this ad
“Right now we are trying to do everything we can to keep our stores operational and our teams employed without resorting to layoffs or downsizing,” Kyle Arora, partner of THC Club in Houston, told Chron.
Other new regulations include a dramatic increase in annual licensing fees—from $258 per retail outlet to $10,0000–in addition to new labeling, testing and bookkeeping requirements.
And plaintiffs say they support some of the new regulations, such as enacting age verification requirements and requiring child-proof packaging.
However, “this action challenges rules that exceed those bounds,” the lawsuit states, pertaining to new rules like the THCA calculations and steep license fee increases.
Article continues below this ad
“When an agency substitutes its own policy judgments for those of the Legislature, it crosses a structural boundary that Texas courts have repeatedly enforced,” the lawsuit reads.
While the case moves forward, plaintiffs are asking the court to immediately pause enforcement through a temporary restraining order.
If granted, it would be the basis for store owners like Arora to put products back on shelves immediately.
Article continues below this ad
“It can’t come soon enough as we are bleeding,” said Arora, “Our team relies on us just as much as we rely on them.”
If the restraining order is approved, plaintiffs would then seek a longer-term injunction to keep the rules on hold during litigation. Then, the case would proceed through evidence-sharing and pretrial arguments before a judge ultimately decides whether to permanently block the regulations.