{"id":221051,"date":"2026-03-26T06:51:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T06:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221051\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T06:51:22","slug":"substantial-rule-changes-slated-to-rock-the-hemp-industry-the-austin-chronicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221051\/","title":{"rendered":"Substantial Rule Changes Slated to Rock the Hemp Industry \u2022 The Austin Chronicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2012, VFW State Commander Dave Walden\u2019s wife drove home to find him wandering around the neighborhood, carrying his cane as if it were the rifle that he used while serving the country in Iraq. He was suffering from opioid-induced cognitive impairment from taking what he estimates was \u201cabout 30-something pills a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six years later, he dropped nearly all of the pills and turned to legal hemp, which he said has changed his life. Now, he fears that option may no longer be on the table for him.<\/p>\n

Although the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 3<\/a>, which aimed to ban hemp products containing THC, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the bill<\/a>, calling for tighter restrictions rather than an outright ban. After the governor\u2019s rejection of SB 3, he issued an executive order<\/a> directing state agencies to craft new rules<\/a> for the industry, which were adopted earlier this month. They are set to take effect on March 31.<\/p>\n

Among the new rules are enforcing a 21-and-older policy, new testing standards, and stricter packaging and labeling requirements aimed to keep products out of the hands of children. Of all of the upcoming changes, people connected to the hemp industry have told the Chronicle that two will have the largest impact on the market: heavily increased licensing fees and reestablishing how THC is measured.<\/p>\n

Currently, hemp retailers pay $150 per location each year for a license, while manufacturers annually pay $250 per facility. Starting next month, these licensing fees will jump to $5,000 for retailers and $10,000 for manufacturers, which is less than the originally proposed change<\/a>. Still, those in the line of work said that these significant increases are going to put some stores out of business, if they haven\u2019t closed shop already in fear of what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

Redefining how legal THC is measured is the other large concern for business owners. Currently, businesses are allowed to sell hemp that contains less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, granting retailers the ability to sell products that contain larger amounts of THCA, which, when combusted, converts to THC and has psychoactive effects \u2013 functionally cannabis, yet technically hemp. Under the new rules, THCA counts toward that 0.3% limit, ultimately eliminating the sale of intoxicating flower and concentrates, which make up a majority of sales for these small businesses.<\/p>\n

Paying thousands more in fees may have been a possibility for some owners in the past, but, without profit from THCA sales, they said that making ends meet is going to be a much tougher battle. \u201cThe fees are definitely exorbitant and way too high, but without flower, we definitely wouldn\u2019t be able to pay those fees,\u201d Todd Harris, co-owner of Austin hemp retailer the Happy Cactus, told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have leaned on public safety as the main motive for these changes, specifically wanting to keep products out of children\u2019s hands. However, Zack Smith, owner of local hemp chain Happy Clouds, raised a great question: Why then are edibles \u2013 which are typically available in chocolate and gummy forms \u2013 still legal?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do kids eat? They eat candy. \u2026 If it was true that they were all after the kids\u2019 health and safety, obviously they would be going after the thing that the kids eat regularly,\u201d Smith told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, agreed with Smith\u2019s analysis. \u201cThese changes are economically driven,\u201d he told the Chronicle. \u201cThey are not driven by health, safety, and welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the upcoming changes, Bordas and the THBC are working to file a lawsuit, although he would not tell the Chronicle when it would be filed or any additional details. \u201cWe are going to turn over every rock and use every resource we can,\u201d Bordas said. \u201cWe think we have a very strong case. We just need to determine when we\u2019re going to play that card.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those involved are not only worried about the thousands of businesses that have been and will be impacted, but also the consumers who will have to turn to an alternative form of relief. Happy Cactus co-owner Harris said, \u201cI am extremely worried, too, about all the consumers in Texas [who] have found these products that have changed their lives or been just a huge benefit for them to just continue surviving, and living, and thriving in this current state.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s people like Walden who Harris is talking about. \u201cI\u2019m not taking this stuff to get high,\u201d the veteran said. \u201cI\u2019m taking it to function.\u201d<\/p>\n

With hemp potentially out of the picture for Walden and others who consume for medicinal benefits, some may be asking why they don\u2019t just enroll themselves in the state\u2019s small medicinal cannabis carve-out, the Texas Compassionate Use Program. Walden said that, for many, finances stand in the way. He currently spends a little less than $100 a month on hemp edibles, which would increase to about $500 or $600 through TCUP, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re passing along this cost to the consumer,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s why most veterans can\u2019t afford TCUP, because of how expensive it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Walden\u2019s main method of consumption \u2013 edibles \u2013 won\u2019t be drastically impacted by the changes, he worries about others who will no longer have access to flower or concentrates. \u201cThere\u2019s some people who, taking a gummy, eating something, it\u2019s just not gonna work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As those within the industry eagerly await the THBC\u2019s lawsuit and a potential injunction, Walden believes that there will be one winner that comes out of this fight: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. \u201cI don\u2019t think anything\u2019s gonna matter because I think Dan Patrick is going to get his goons at the next legislative session and ban it all anyway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And if that is the case, for Walden, his next steps are clear: Although \u201cTexas has the best veteran benefits of any state in the country,\u201d he said that he refuses to let opioids rule his life again. \u201cI\u2019ll move the hell out of Texas before I take opioids again.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article appears in March 27 \u2022 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A note to readers:\u00a0Bold and uncensored,\u00a0The Austin Chronicle\u00a0has been Austin\u2019s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community\u2019s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2012, VFW State Commander Dave Walden\u2019s wife drove home to find him wandering around the neighborhood, carrying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,1551,27604,27765,86087,69687,83644],"class_list":["post-221051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-feature","tag-hemp","tag-hemp-industry","tag-hemp-regulation","tag-senate-bill-3","tag-texas-hemp-business-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221051","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=221051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}