Texas Is Now Hostile Territory for Hemp

Texas Is Now Hostile Territory for Hemp

The March 2026 hemp rules are back in play in Texas, and they are bad for the THCa flower market. A June 5, 2026, court order did not decide whether or not the rules are lawful, but it did eliminate the temporary legal protection (i.e., the injunction) that prohibited enforcement of the most damaging provisions. As a practical matter, this means Texas operators are once again exposed to a regulatory framework that targets smokable hemp, imposes a “total THC” standard, and raises the cost of staying in business dramatically. This is a big problem because THCa flower is not a weird, or even new, part of the cannabis market.

THCa flower is one of the most popular natural hemp products in the country. Consumers want flower. They understand flower. And the legal status of THCa flower created broad access to cannabis flower for consumers living in states where legal access is overly restrictive or illegal. Viewed through this lens, cannabis reform in Texas just took a big step backwards.  

What the Texas Rules Actually Do

The Texas rules, promulgated by regulators at the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), overstep and go well outside the statute that the state’s elected legislators enacted last year.

Following federal law, Texas has long defined hemp through the metric of delta-9 THC concentration. But the March 2026 rules by the DSHS redefine the hemp metric in a way that prohibits hemp products, including THCa flower, that are lawful under the statutory definition of “hemp”. The newly adopted rules define “acceptable hemp THC level” as a total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that includes a result of 0.3% or less. Notably, the rules define “total delta-9 THC” such that THCa is now part of the metric. “Total THC” now includes THC isomers (i.e., all forms of THC) and THCa after decarboxylation (or use of the 0.877 conversion factor). All of this means that delta-9 THC alone no longer matters. For compliance purposes, both THCa and THC isomers matter, and Texas is now among the growing list of “total THC” states. This means  the lion’s share of natural hemp flower currently on the market will no longer be lawful in Texas.

If the total THC level in a hemp product, such as flower, exceeds the 0.3% threshold, then the product is noncompliant under the new state rules. This effectively bans all THCa flower since it usually contains delta-9 THC levels within the 0.3% limit but contains THCa levels that prevent it from passing a “total THC” test. This is a fundamental attack on the most important natural hemp product category in Texas.

The Smokable-Hemp Problem In Texas Just Got Worse

As most readers are probably aware, Texas had an awkward policy on smokable hemp before these new rules were implemented. The Texas Supreme Court previously upheld the State’s prohibition on manufacturing and processing consumable hemp products for smoking inside Texas. At the same time, however, DSHS continued to state in its FAQ that retail sale and wholesale distribution of smokable hemp products manufactured outside Texas were allowed, and that hemp flower could still be sold in bulk as long as it was not marketed or labeled for smoking. That strange setup left room for a flower market to exist.  The March 2026 rules mostly eliminate the flower market in Texas.  

The Rules Are Costly

The March 2026 rules also increase manufacturer licensing fees to $10,000 per facility and retail registration fees to $5,000 per location. This is a huge jump from the prior fee structure. Obviously, this hits smaller operators the hardest and makes multi-location retail much more expensive. These fees favor big businesses and corporate interests, making the the situation in Texas even more damaging. I have long argued that the hemp industry provides an opportunity for small businesses to participate meaningfully in the cannabis industry, even as corporate cannabis giants attempt to consolidate and control the market. Exorbitant fees hurt small businesses and make it harder for them to compete.

Texas Tightened the Rest of the Compliance Framework 

The March rules do more than count “total THC” and raise fees. They also create a much more difficult regulatory system around consumable hemp products, including 21-and-over sales, ID verification, stronger packaging standards, testing and recordkeeping obligations, and additional requirements for products manufactured outside Texas. DSHS now requires sellers of out-of-state products to provide evidence that products were produced in compliance with another approved regulatory framework and meet Texas testing rules.

Some of these ideas, standing alone, are not outrageous. Age gates, testing, and labeling are legitimate and important guardrails. But Texas did not stop at guardrails. It paired them with a compliance structure that is deeply hostile to flower and a fee structure that will harm smaller hemp businesses. Also, requiring out of state businesses to comply with Texas health rules makes sense. Unfortunately, not all states have comprehensive hemp regulatory structures, and operators in those states are now effectively banned from the Texas market.

What the June 5 Ruling Actually Changed

The ruling removed the injunction and effectively took away the industry’s short-term cushion.

Previously, a trial court blocked enforcement of major portions of the March DSHS rules. While the State appealed, the hemp industry plaintiffs regained temporary protection through an administrative stay. On June 5, the temporary stay was lifted. The court did not explain its reasoning. It did not decide whether the rules are legal. It did, however, remove the temporary stay that kept operators safe from enforcement of rules they claim are illegal.

This is why the June 5 ruling matters. The court did not bless the March 2026 rules, but it allowed the rules to take effect again while the case continues.

What This Means for Hemp Operators

The March 2026 rules are in effect and presumably will be enforced. If your business depends heavily on THCa flower, pre-rolls, concentrate, or other smokable products, then you are in the highest-risk category. The rules were written so they affect those products hardest. If your business is more focused on beverages, gummies, tinctures, or other non-smokable products, your position may be better, but it is still not easy. You need to account for the fee increases, 21+ restrictions, testing rules, packaging rules, and out-of-state product documentation requirements. Finally, if you manufacture outside Texas and ship into Texas, you need to pay attention to the new rules and determine if your products are compliant. The current rules are more demanding, and the burden to document lawful out-of-state production is more explicit than before.

Why This Is Bad Policy

Texas is making the same mistake too many other states have made while in a panic about hemp, namely, treating consumer demand as the problem.

THCa flower is popular because adults want natural cannabis flower. It is not a lab-created novelty or a synthetic workaround. Flower is the most familiar and natural cannabis product there is. In places like Texas, THCa flower helped to normalize cannabis, to increase legal access, and to push cannabis further into the mainstream. It is hard for opponents of cannabis legalization to promote a “Reefer Madness” perspective of cannabis when it is widely and lawfully used by normal adult consumers. It’s easy to see through the anti-cannabis propaganda when THCa flower is normalized.   

A smarter policy path should be obvious. Enacting age restrictions, requiring testing, labeling, and packaging standards, and implementing pragmatic retail rules are all great ways to ensure public safety, allow adults to purchase the hemp products they choose to consume, and support small businesses . Instead, though, Texas chose to imposes a “total THC” standard and impose exorbitant fees in an effort to squeeze the hemp market. This is not a good way to regulate, especially when the rules go against the statute. In fact, the DSHS appears to be engaged in anti-hemp policymaking under the guise of neutral rulemaking.

The Bottom Line

Texas is a bad place for hemp right now, and businesses selling THCa flower will bear the brunt of these policy changes. The June 5 order did not settle the legal status of the March 2026 rules, but it did make those rules matter again for operators. It is important to note that the rules do three things: (1) they create a “total THC” compliance requirement that undermines flower, (2) they sharply raise fees, and (3) they create a much tougher compliance environment across the board. These three things are bad for businesses, bad for consumers, and bad for a natural product category that has done a great deal to expand cannabis access in Texas.

If you manufacture, distribute, retail, or ship hemp products into Texas, especially smokable products or THCa flower, now is a good time to revisit your product mix, documentation, licensing posture, and risk tolerance. The legal fight is not over. And for operators on the ground, things just got a lot worse.

June 11, 2026

Rod Kight is an international cannabis lawyer. He represents businesses throughout the cannabis industry. Additionally, Rod speaks at cannabis conferences, drafts and presents legislation to foreign governments, is regularly quoted on cannabis matters in the media, and is the editor of the Kight on Cannabis legal blog, which discusses legal issues affecting the cannabis industry. You can schedule a call with him by clicking here.