Texas Agriculture Commissioner Calls For Repeal Of Federal Hemp Ban Trump Signed Into Law

The head of the Texas Department of Agriculture is calling for a repeal of
a recently enacted federal hemp THC product ban the president signed into
law last week, cautioning that thousands of businesses across his state are
at risk of shutting down if the policy isn’t reversed before it takes
effect next year.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R) also said he’s hopeful the
industry will put enough pressure on Congress to course-correct before that
happens, with a regulatory approach to the issue that ensures public health
and safety without kneecapping the cannabinoid market.

“We can protect kids and treat adults like adults at the same time. The
federal bans [sic] takes our country backwards, destroys jobs, and hurts
those who find relief in these products,” he said. “The ban should be
repealed.”

The commissioner made the comment in an X post where he also shared an
interview with KDFW from Tuesday in which he discussed the hemp ban
President Donald Trump signed into law as part of a broader spending bill
package. In that interview, though, Miller gave a somewhat contradictory
analysis of the policy change.

Miller said initially that “what happened on the federal level is much
better” than what Texas lawmakers have attempted to do with a bill to
significantly restrict the hemp market. That state-level measure was
ultimately vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who went on to issue an
emergency order setting age limits and other rules for intoxicating
cannabinoid products.

It was a “start” to addressing the issue—albeit one that fell short of what
anti-cannabis Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) had hoped to see, the commissioner
said.

“I’ve never been an advocate of recreational marijuana,” he said. “I am a
big proponent of medical use. If it’ll help somebody with a medical
condition, I think we should help those people.”

We can protect kids and treat adults like adults at the same time. The
federal bans takes our country backwards, destroys jobs, and hurts those
who find relief in these products. The ban should be repealed.
https://t.co/mEtxsvAk7L

— Sid Miller (@MillerForTexas) November 19, 2025

The reason he said the law passed by Congress and signed by Trump is “much
better” than Texas policy is because it bans synthetic cannabinoid
products, which were easily accessible without age-gating to prevent youth
use.

“A seventh grader could buy a THC-infused gummies and take it to junior
high and hand it out. That wasn’t against the law,” he said. “We don’t need
that. So this new federal law is going to take care of that.”

Yet despite his apparent support for the federal policy change, he conceded
that if the hemp ban takes effect, it will ultimately shutter thousands of
businesses across the state that produce and sell cannabinoid products.

“It’s not going to be implemented for another year, so I suspect that there
will be a lot of wrangling in Congress to make some adjustments to that,”
Miller said. “I don’t know the prediction. I don’t know how that’s going to
come out. It may remain just as it is or it may change. Time will tell.”

He added that he doesn’t want an “all-out ban” for consumable hemp
products, emphasizing that research shows cannabis can help people with
conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), epilepsy and
glaucoma.

“We know it helps that,” the commissioner said. “The medical end of it is
proven. Now we have those facts. I certainly want to keep that aspect of
it.”

What happens next on the federal level is unclear, he said.

“We’ll see what they do. The industry will push hard to have it changed.
We’ll see whether they’re successful or not. It remains to be seen,” Miller
said.

The commissioner also recently pushed back against a GOP state senator’s
“incorrect assertions” about the state’s regulatory compliance with federal
hemp laws. But he signaled that additional changes may be coming to measure
“total THC” to determine the legality of hemp products in a way that some
stakeholders worry could negatively impact the industry.

In the meantime, Texas officials are still moving forward with implementing
state-level regulations for hemp products even as a potential federal ban
looms that could conflict with those rules.


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For example, last week the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)
started distributing a hemp law “checklist” list to help businesses comply
with the recently enacted state cannabis rules—including age-gating to
prevent the sale of intoxicating cannabinoid products to youth.

After similar restrictions were implemented by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission (TABC) in September, DSHS moved forward with the policies
changes that comply with the governor’s executive order on hemp.

The checklist flyer was also released weeks after regulators with the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) adopted new rules to implement a law significantly
expanding the state’s medical marijuana program.

This specific set of rules will increase the number of licensed
dispensaries, establish security requirements for “satellite” locations and
authorize the revocation of licenses for certain violations.

DPS will ultimately be issuing 12 new licenses for dispensaries across the
state. Currently there are only three. The additional licensees will go
through a competitive process, with officials prioritizing Texas’s public
health regions to optimize access.

Also in line with the state’s medical cannabis expansion law that the
governor signed, the state Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)
proposed rules in September to let physicians recommend new qualifying
conditions for cannabis and to create standards for allowable inhalation
devices.

Separately, a recent survey from a GOP pollster affiliated with President
Donald Trump found that Texas Democratic and Republican voters are unified
in their opposition to the hemp ban proposal.

*Image element courtesy of AnonMoos.*

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Ban Trump Signed Into Law appeared first on Marijuana Moment.