A coalition of hemp industry stakeholders and advocacy groups filed a temporary restraining order against the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Tuesday, seeking to block the state’s recently implemented ban on smokable hemp products, the Texas Tribune reports.
Enacted on March 31, the ban prohibits the sale of hemp flower, pre-rolls, and vaporizers. DSHS officials targeted the products by updating the state regulations to count the cannabinoid THCA — which itself is not intoxicating, but when decarboxylated (heated or burned), converts into delta-9 THC — toward the maximum THC allowed in hemp products. Under state law, hemp-derived products must not exceed the 0.3% federal limit on THC content.
In their challenge, however, the plaintiffs argue that state officials lacked the authority to issue such sweeping changes.
“Under current Texas law, hemp is defined by its delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3%. These Texas officials and state agencies are clearly attempting to create new law in direct contradiction to what the Texas legislature intended.” — David Sergi, attorney for the hemp coalition, in a press release
Meanwhile, officials also passed new requirements for product testing and age verification, and significantly increased the state’s hemp licensing fees. The hemp industry coalition is not challenging those changes.
“Texas hemp businesses wholeheartedly support those regulations, as they fall within the agency’s authority,” Sergi said in the report. “We are seeking to halt rules that would effectively end the in-state production of hemp and the sale of hemp products — items the Legislature chose not to ban during recent legislative and special sessions.”
