The State of Texas is moving forward with regulations that will guide the portion of the state’s eight-billion-dollar hemp industry that deals with consumable products like gummies.
Thursday morning, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission held a public hearing to get feedback from stakeholders on proposed new rules that are expected to go into effect next year.
After Texas Governor Greg Abbott vetoed Senate Bill 3, which would have banned the majority of consumable hemp products statewide, he instructed TABC and the Department of State Health Services to implement emergency rules for hemp businesses to keep minors from accessing hemp-derived products.
Many in the hemp industry were on board, including Mark Bordas, the executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council.
“We are 100 percent against the sale to minors,” Bordas said.
He was just one of multiple businessowners and advocates that took part in TABC’s public hearing Thursday on new proposed permanent rules that would apply to those businesses that sale both alcohol and consumable hemp products.
Bordas said he is in agreement with the effort by TABC to draft rules for the industry.
“It’s a movement in the right direction as far as promulgation rules,” he said.
Heather Fazio, the director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center in Austin, agreed.
“Thanks to Governor Abbott’s decisive action,” Fazio said in a statement to KSAT, “state regulators are finally moving forward with age restrictions for THC products.”
“DSHS is working toward establishing similar rules for hemp retailers who fall outside the purview of TABC,” Fazio continued. “We commend both agencies for their efforts to ensure public health and safety.”
TABC is the state agency that oversees hemp products that are sold in businesses that serve or sell alcohol.
Currently, DSHS is over all other businesses that sell consumable hemp products.
During Thursday’s public hearing, industry stakeholders voiced their opinions and offered senior counsel Matthew Cherry other points of consideration that they believed should be factored into how the new rules are written.
Right now, the emergency rules that were implemented prohibit the sale of consumable hemp products to anyone under the age of 21.
Hemp businesses are required to verify the age of all customers buying products. TABC could cancel the license or permit of businesses found to have sold to minors.
TABC documents state the proposed permanent rules are basically the same as the emergency rules, but they now have teeth, more consequences.
Some of the new rules being proposed:
A business under TABC’s purview would be able to present a defense if it is determined that an employee failed to verify the age of a customer that was 40 years old up who bought hemp products.
A license or permit holder of a business that has its license cancelled or suspended under the new rules would face restrictions in applying for a new license or permit.
TABC would have to option to suspend a business’s license or permit for violations. Currently, the emergency rules that are in place only allow the agency to cancel a business’s license or permit.
But during Thursday’s hearing, Bordas presented TABC with an example where he believed the repercussions of activity under the agency’s purview is unbalanced.
“On a first violation of selling alcohol to a minor, you might have a $100 dollar to a $1,000 fine or a suspension for a few days,” Bordas said.
“If one of your clerks sells hemp to a minor, you lose your liquor license for 30 days,” Bordas said. “Our argument is, ‘shouldn’t it be equal”.
TABC did not take any official action on Thursday following the hearing.
Officials said the agency will continue to take written public comments on the proposed rules until January 4, 2026.
You can submit your comments at rules@tabc.texas.gov
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