{"id":124513,"date":"2026-01-15T17:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/124513\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T17:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:07:08","slug":"corpus-christi-hemp-shops-warn-proposed-rules-could-put-them-out-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/124513\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi hemp shops warn proposed rules could put them out of business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas regulators are considering new hemp rules, including steep licensing fee increases and THC limits, that local shop owners say could put them out of business.<\/p>\n

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Texas state regulators are considering new rules for consumable hemp products that local business owners say could significantly impact the industry and threaten small retailers\u2019 ability to stay open.<\/p>\n

RELATED: THC-derived hemp ban sparks concern among Corpus Christi shop owners<\/a><\/p>\n

The proposed regulations, first introduced in December, are not new state laws but changes to existing rules. While some provisions \u2014 such as age verification requirements \u2014 are generally supported by the hemp industry, others have raised concerns among retailers across the Coastal Bend.<\/p>\n

One of the most controversial proposals would dramatically increase retail licensing fees. Currently, a consumable hemp products retail license costs $150 per year. Under the proposed rules, that fee could rise to $20,000 per location annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to hurt the small businesses the most because we can\u2019t compete with the big companies,\u201d said Marlena Flores, manager of QBR, a hemp retailer in downtown Corpus Christi<\/a>. \u201cSo you are putting out a good \u2014 I think it\u2019s 250,000 people in Texas alone that are involved in the hemp industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another proposed regulation would require testing of THC levels in consumable products, making any product containing more than 0.3 percent THC illegal. Flores said that threshold would effectively eliminate the sale of hemp flower, which naturally contains higher THC levels.<\/p>\n

If enacted, the rules would limit stores to selling only edible hemp products. Flores said that would leave some customers without effective alternatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re breaking it\u00a0down to shops only being able to have edibles, a third of the population does not break down gummies or edibles,\u201d Flores said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t break down THC that way. Not everybody is made the same, so that would effectively cut out certain people who are using it for their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other local business owners echoed those concerns. Rene Pe\u00f1a, owner of Panacea Hash Garden, said the proposed changes would penalize businesses that followed existing state regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas invited small businesses to invest in hemp, and we did so in good faith,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cNow the state is moving the goalposts with extreme proposed fee hikes and a ban on smokable hemp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a said many hemp businesses are family-run operations that could struggle to survive under the proposed costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis proposal would punish compliance and reward only those big enough to absorb massive new costs,\u201d he said, adding that some operators may be forced to leave the state if the rules move forward.<\/p>\n

For comparison, a Texas business pays $5,300 for a first-year license to sell liquor, beer and wine, with the renewal cost dropping to just under $2,700. Under the proposed hemp regulations, retailers would pay $20,000 every year, regardless of business size.<\/p>\n

State regulators have not finalized the rules, and the proposal remains subject to change. Business owners say they hope state leaders will reconsider before taking action that could reshape the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ready to work with the state to craft balanced regulations that protect consumers and preserve an industry that is putting Texans to work,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas regulators are considering new hemp rules, including steep licensing fee increases and THC limits, that local shop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-124513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}