There is measurable alarm online over the recent ban of hemp-derived THC products in Texas, but the finer details are being largely missed. The actual truth is that Texas has banned a select group of hemp-derived products, yet some are still legal and widely available.
As seen on USA Today and The Texas Tribune, the new hemp-derived ban went into effect July 31, targeting Delta-8, Delta-10, and THCP products.
The new ban went into effect after the state’s Supreme Court earlier this year decided in favor of the Texas Department of State Health Services to reclassify all hemp-derived THC products, save for low-dose Delta-9 THC, as Schedule I drugs, criminalizing the once-legal products.
By way of the 2018 Farm Bill, industrial hemp was removed from the Controlled Substances Act, which allowed for hemp products to be developed legally so long as the products didn’t go over a 0.3% delta-9 THC limit.
The Texas ban applies to all synthetic THC products, including the aforementioned Delta-8, Delta-10, THCP, along with THCA flower. Many of these sorts of products were easily available in gas stations and smoke shops across the state, but several reputable brands, such as Austin-based Hometown Hero, developed these products with rigorous testing standards and shared results.
What can continue to be sold and held in volume are hemp-derived Delta-9 THC products, which include smokeable flower, tinctures, edibles and drinks. Also, hemp-derived CBD and CBG products can continue to be sold and possessed. Vapes containing THC are banned in the state.
The decision by the state, according to many online, freezes out many consumers who used these products not to simply chase a high but for relief for various symptoms.
With the synthetic THC products now seen as Schedule I, possession of these products will be treated as a felony with prison times of as little as 180 days to up to two years, according to experts on the ground.
“Now that we’re criminalizing these substances that have been federally legal for the past five or six years, we’re now creating a new pipeline for people to go to prison and spend millions of dollars within the legal system, and just further disenfranchise a lot of people,” Joao Mitchell, manager of ATX Organics and legislative director of Texas Cannabis Collective, shared in a statement with the Tribune.
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