The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on behalf of the Texas Department of State Health Services, recently announced that it was accepting public comments to the current rules governing consumer hemp products in the state. 

By rule, “consumable hemp products” are defined as “[a]ny product processed or manufactured for consumption that contains hemp, including food, a drug, a device, and a cosmetic…but does not include any consumable hemp product containing a hemp seed, or hemp seed-derived ingredient being used in a manner that has been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA.”

This review is conducted in accordance with a Texas law requiring state agencies, every four years, to assess whether the initial reasons for adopting a rule continue to exist. After reviewing its rules, the agency will readopt, readopt with amendments, or repeal its rules. To read the rule under review, please visit this link.

We’ll be interested to see what changes, if any, come about as a result of the public comment period. Longtime readers will recall that Texas regulators have a somewhat colorful past when it comes to rules governing hemp-derived products. Efforts to prohibit delta-8 were sloppy and ultimately unsuccessful to date. Will this public comment period produce any additional language to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids?

Comments must be submitted by the end of April.