Texas' confusing legal weed market, explained
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Back-to-back court rulings are clouding the Texas legal weed market.
Why it matters: State and federal crackdowns are threatening the future of Texas' multibillion-dollar hemp industry, leaving businesses uncertain about whether key products will remain legal by year's end.
The big picture: Texas regulators have spent years trying to rein in the industry after after lawmakers legalized certain consumable hemp products in 2018 and opened the door to delta-8 THC's rapid growth.
Flashback: In 2021, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) added delta-8 to the state's list of controlled substances, effectively banning the sale of products containing the substance, a compound similar to the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
- Hemp leaders filed a lawsuit that year challenging the rules and secured a temporary injunction that removed delta-8 from the list as the lawsuit plays out.
After Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed legislation banning THC last year, he directed DSHS to enhance regulations.
- That led the agency this year to implement rules effectively banning smokable hemp products. Industry leaders sued and secured a temporary court order blocking the rules, which were supposed to take effect March 30.
Yes, but: In the 2021 case, The Texas Supreme Court ruled last month that DSHS was permitted to add delta-8 back to the controlled substance list.
- In the case from this year, a Texas appeals court ordered this month that the agency's rules banning smokeable hemp products could take effect.
Driving the news: Texas hemp industry leaders say they're now waiting for DSHS to add delta-8 back to its controlled substance list.
- "Now that this decision has come down, our [legal team's] opinion on this is that DSHS has to redo their whole scheduling process," Texas Hemp Business Council president Cynthia Cabrera said on X after the higher court's ruling.
When asked to confirm whether DSHS would have to reintroduce the delta-8 rules, agency spokesperson Lara Anton told Axios that "DSHS is still in the process of determining the next steps."
- Anton did not respond to questions about the agency's enforcement efforts on the new rules banning smokeable hemp products.
Zoom out: As Texas hemp industry leaders fight state agencies in court, a bigger shark is looming after President Trump signed a bill last year that included a federal ban on many hemp-derived THC products. The law takes effect in November.
- Industry leaders are hopeful the Trump administration will reverse course before then. Last month, his administration reclassified certain types of marijuana at the federal level.
The bottom line: While the smokable hemp ban is in effect, all eyes are on how DSHS proceeds with delta-8 products.