Texas Total THC Rule Back in Effect After Appeals Court Lifts Injunction
Photo: Jonathan Cutrer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
The Texas rule that effectively bans the sale of THCA flower and hemp concentrates is back in effect. The Fifteenth Court of Appeals on Friday denied the hemp industry's request to keep a temporary injunction in place while its lawsuit against the state proceeds, and the Department of State Health Services has not said whether it will begin enforcing.
DSHS adopted new consumable hemp rules on March 31 that count THCA toward the 0.3 percent THC limit, calculated as delta-9 THC plus 0.877 times THCA. Because THCA converts to delta-9 when heated, flower and concentrates that tested compliant under the old delta-9-only standard fail under the new math. The rules also raised the annual retail registration fee from $150 to $5,000 per location and manufacturing fees from $250 to $10,000.
The Texas Hemp Business Council sued, and Travis County Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle issued a temporary injunction on May 1 blocking DSHS from enforcing the total THC definition, a transport restriction, and escalating daily penalties, with trial set for July 27. On Friday, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals denied the council's emergency request to keep that injunction in place. The two-sentence order does not decide whether the rules are legal; it removes the shield while the appeal continues.
DSHS spokesperson Lara Anton said the agency "is still determining how to proceed given that there is not a final disposition yet."
The rule applies to the sale and manufacture of consumable hemp products in Texas. Businesses that sell noncompliant products face administrative penalties that stack daily, with each day a violation continues counting as a separate violation, along with license revocation. Possession is not explicitly prohibited under the state statute, which still defines hemp by its delta-9 content, and Austin police have advised people carrying smokable hemp products to keep the packaging with them to avoid confiscation.
The ruling lands on a market already contracting under a separate case. The Texas Supreme Court on May 1 upheld the state's 2021 classification of delta-8 THC as a Schedule I controlled substance, and the stay requiring those products off shelves took effect May 28.