{"id":299428,"date":"2026-05-19T08:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/299428\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T08:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:02:08","slug":"hemp-ruling-texas-supreme-court-oks-thc-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/299428\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp ruling: Texas Supreme Court OKs THC regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a win for judicial restraint, public health and common sense, the Texas Supreme Court ruled decisively<\/a> and unanimously against the Delta-8 THC industry earlier this month. The hemp industry has exploited a loophole in the 2018 federal Farm Bill and Texas\u2019 2019 hemp law intended to promote a legitimate industrial hemp market, but industry advocates argued intoxicating cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC, which they chemically converted from hemp-derived CBD, were legal too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not so, the court said. In a 30-page ruling that was a primer on federalism and the separation of powers, the court noted that the Legislature, through the Texas Controlled Substances Act, authorized the Texas Department of State Health Services to regulate controlled substances because of \u201cthe need for the executive branch to be capable of responding rapidly and authoritatively to emerging threats to public safety from the development of illicit and harmful substances.\u201d This ruling is important because it not only recognizes DSHS\u2019 authority to schedule Delta-8 but also any future synthetic cannabinoid variants. \u00a0<\/p>\n

On the same day, a Travis County District Judge extended a temporary injunction<\/a> that allowed the sale of intoxicating THC products that Gov. Greg Abbott sought to restrict. At issue is another industry claim that THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) falls outside the legal definition of THC. THCA converts into Delta-9 THC, illegal under both state and federal law, when consumed. It would be like the Coca-Cola Co. claiming its products are \u201csugar-free\u201d because they contain only high-fructose corn syrup. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 15th Court of Appeals is reviewing this ruling that, at least temporarily, endangers the health and safety of Texans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the Supreme Court of Texas ruling, the hemp THC loophole is scheduled to be closed federally this November. The era of intoxicating hemp products sold in gas stations and smoke shops may finally come to an end.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite relentless industry lobbying and misleading messaging, some polls show support for marijuana legalization softening, particularly with younger conservatives<\/a>, as more states confront the unintended consequences of widespread cannabis commercialization. In February, even a New York Times editorial<\/a> acknowledged that legalization \u201chas led to worse outcomes than many Americans expected\u201d and recommended multiple new restrictions. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most outrageous talking point floated by the Texas marijuana movement is that we could cut property taxes if only we would legalize marijuana. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently charged the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with examining the impact cannabis use is already having on the state budget. A 2018 study in Colorado<\/a> estimated a cost of nearly $5 in healthcare spending and lost productivity for every dollar collected in marijuana tax revenue. Meanwhile, Colorado lawmakers are now grappling with a budget shortfall driven largely by rising Medicaid costs and weaker-than-expected tax revenue, a reminder that the promised economic benefits from cannabis do not fully offset long-term public costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Public policy should be guided by evidence and public health, not special interests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt Poling is a family physician, veteran and medical advisor for Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a win for judicial restraint, public health and common sense, the Texas Supreme Court ruled decisively and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-299428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299428","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=299428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}