For the past eight months, cannabis operators and consumers in Texas — and nationwide — have closely watched the state’s hemp debate. As the second most populous state, Texas’ approach to consumable hemp is seen as a bellwether: How it regulates testing, labeling, and youth access could shape not only neighboring states’ policies but also influence the trajectory of federal rules.
Now, Gov. Greg Abbott’s new order asks the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to focus on restricting youth access and tightening the nuts and bolts — testing, labeling, recordkeeping, fees, and enforcement — while adult access to lawful products stays in place.
Below, we cut through (1) what changes now, (2) what agencies will do next, and (3) what hemp sellers should tackle first.
1. What the Executive Order Changes and What It Doesn’t
The order instructs the TABC and the DSHS to start rulemaking immediately to:
- Prohibit sales of hemp-derived products to minors and
- Require government-issued ID verification before completing a sale.
Violations of these rules can result in a permit, license, or registration cancellation. However, this is not a hemp product ban. And, to be clear, the order does not itself contain new rules. Still, in the order’s background, Abbott reiterates the approach he endorsed when vetoing SB 3 — supporting the following components of House Bill 309:
- Prohibit retail sale of hemp flower;
- Prohibit synthetic/non-plant cannabinoids in hemp products;
- Bar products combined with alcoholic beverages, kratom, kava, tobacco, or similar substances;
- Set potency limits per serving and per package (in milligrams) with testing “from harvest to shelf;”
- Add sensitive-place restrictions (e.g., 1,000-foot buffers around schools, churches, playgrounds, homeless shelters, treatment facilities) and enable local-option retail bans; and
- Expand licensing/monitoring tools, clarify license cancellation authority, provide a DTPA civil cause of action for local prosecutors, and adopt a THC-scaled tax to fund enforcement, labs, and youth education.
2. What Agencies Must Do Next
- The DSHS – The DSHS must begin reviewing and updating rules to:
- Revise testing so labs measure total delta-9 THC by accounting for both delta-9 THC and the conversion of THCA;
- Revise application and renewal fees for hemp manufacturer and retailer licenses to reflect full regulatory and enforcement costs;
- Clarify and standardize labels to list cannabinoid amounts and concentrations, serving size, and health warnings; and
- Strengthen recordkeeping for all sales, inventory, and product-testing results subject to inspection.
- DSHS and TABC Coordination – The order requires formal coordination on enforcement, which may include reallocating compliance-check and seizure authority, data-sharing on licensing and testing, funding transfers from DSHS to TABC to carry out delegated duties, and regular reporting by TABC to DSHS on enforcement actions, violations, and compliance trends.
- Study of Regulation – The TABC, DSHS, and Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension Service (AgriLife) must jointly study how to implement rules similar to House Bill 309 (2nd Special Session), including:
- Costs, staffing, training, and lab-testing capacity;
- Evidence-based methods to determine intoxication from hemp-derived products;
- Strategies to prevent unlawful sales/resales, including out-of-state; and
- Recommendations for state–local enforcement coordination.
- Law Enforcement – The executive order directs the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to coordinate with other law enforcement and regulatory agencies to ensure statewide enforcement against unlawful sales of consumable hemp products and to deter and address violations consistently.
3. Consideration for Hemp Sellers
Retailers should begin implementing point-of-sale age-verification using government-issued IDs; confirm their labs can perform “total delta-9” testing that accounts for THCA conversion; prepare for an inventory that may not include hemp flower; and audit labels and recordkeeping against the standards the agencies are expected to propose. They should also budget for potential increases to application and renewal fees and closely monitor forthcoming rule filings and public-comment windows from the DSHS and TABC.
In short, Texas has elected to regulate and not ban hemp products and will, therefore, move forward with two distinct cannabis markets. For hemp sellers, that means no panic — just a smart tune-up: age verification, delta-9 testing, cleaning up labels and records, and watching for draft rules and comment windows from DSHS and TABC. The TABC is scheduled to meet on September 23 to consider adopting emergency rules on prohibiting hemp sales to minors and requiring age verification.
