A Travis County District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday, pausing for 14 days new Texas rules banning smokable THCA flower and other hemp-derived consumable products.
Judge Guerra Gamble's ruling came in a lawsuit by the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC), Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA), and other plaintiffs, who contend that the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) bypassed the legislature to restrict the sale and manufacture of certain hemp products without statutory authority.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Jason Snell called the case a constitutional separation of powers dispute. “Here we are today, with the regulators attempting to do what the legislators could not and did not do, and that’s illegal. What the legislature refuses to enact cannot be imposed through rulemaking. The rule-makers cannot overstep their authority and enact rules that are more restrictive than what the legislators have enacted,” he said.
State attorney Zachary Berg argued the rules are needed to comply with a federal law redefining legal hemp under a stricter standard beginning in November.
The 2019 state law permits cannabis products with delta-9 THC at 0.3 percent or less. DSHS and HHSC recently adopted a “total delta-9 THC” limit using a post-decarboxylation formula that incorporates tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA). The legislature passed Senate Bill 3 in 2025 to sharply restrict hemp products, but Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vetoed it; two subsequent special sessions also failed to produce new law.
The suit names Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) as a defendant and contests fee increases: manufacturer licenses rose from $250 to $10,000 per facility, retailer registrations from $150 to $5,000 per location. The judge declined to restrain the fees Friday.
A hearing on the motion for a temporary injunction is set for April 23.
Separately, Texas recently conditionally approved new medical marijuana business licenses under a law expanding the state’s cannabis program. Last month, voters approved a marijuana legalization question on the Democratic primary ballot. A February poll found 40 percent of Texas voters disapprove of how officials have handled marijuana and THC policy, 29 percent approve, and 31 percent have no opinion. A separate poll found a plurality want marijuana laws made less strict. The lieutenant governor and House speaker announced that the state will proceed with its own ibogaine research program after no drug companies met requirements for clinical trial funding under a recently enacted law.
