Texas Hemp Businesses Celebrate Lawmakers’ Failure To Pass THC Product Ban

*“I’m glad I stayed vigilant. There’s no rest for the weary.”*

*By Paul Cobler and Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune*

When news broke Wednesday afternoon of a last-minute push to pass new,
stricter regulations for consumable hemp products, the employees at Austin
Vape & Smoke sprung into action.

Zaquiri Hensen, a manager at the South Austin store, said he alerted his
staff and other stores around the city before beginning to contact his
legislators, urging them to reject any strict regulation or ban. Every
customer that came into the store for the rest of the day was told to do
the same, Hensen said.

“I still watched the House stream just in case because you never know
what’s going to happen on the House floor,” Hensen said.

Hensen was finally able to relax around 9 p.m. when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
(R) announced in a post on X that the Senate would wrap up the second
special session hours later, effectively closing out the Legislature
without any new THC restrictions or a ban.

The smoke shop’s ability to quickly mobilize played no small part in the
incredible opposition from the estimated $8 billion Texas hemp industry and
its customer base against legislative threats this year. For the better
part of 2025, that industry has grappled with the uncertainty of state
legislators seeking to ban or sharply curtail its sales, but on Wednesday,
the industry collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

After eight months of committee hearings, debates, a surprise decision by
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to veto a total ban of hemp in June and last-minute
negotiations on Wednesday, the status quo will largely remain in place for
the industry, for now. Hemp-derived THC products—the gummies, flower buds
and drinks that are sold at convenience stores, liquor stores, smoke shops
and even some grocers across the state—will remain legal.

Cynthia Cabrera, president of the industry trade association Texas Hemp
Business Council, said she never relaxed throughout the two special
sessions this summer, despite the lack of public effort from the House to
again pass a total ban of hemp. She barely slept as the Senate remained in
session until early Thursday morning.

“I’m glad I stayed vigilant,” said Cabrera, who is also the chief strategy
officer of Hometown Hero, Austin-based manufacturer of hemp-derived THC
products. “There’s no rest for the weary.”

The Legislature’s impasse means the debate over what to do about hemp
products could rage on. Patrick, who has cited protecting children from
using the products as key motivator, reiterated in his post on X that he
remains committed to a total ban, despite Abbott’s opposition for such a
measure.
A likely next step: Age restrictions

Earlier this year, the Legislature did successfully pass some efforts
addressing the sale and marketing of THC products geared toward youth. For
instance, the ban on the sale of vape pens, even those that just contain
nicotine—which passed during the regular session and took effect
Monday—explicitly applies to any made to look like pens, highlighters,
smartphones or other items often seen in schools.

But lawmakers failed to pass an age limit for who can purchase THC
products, despite the proposal garnering wide support. Major hemp industry
representatives have said they welcome more regulation over an outright ban
and Abbott in his veto of the THC hemp ban called for restrictions
including age limits.

“If there was a legitimate concern with public safety and access by minors,
then that would be resolved by an age gate bill,” Cabrera said. “This
piecemeal approach just means [state Sen.] Charles Perry and Dan Patrick
lacked the thoughtfulness required to ensure Texans have access to the
products they use on a daily basis.”

From the recent special session, House Bill 36 focused specifically on
banning THC products for people under 21. There was even chatter among some
lawmakers during last-minute negotiations on Wednesday to advance the
proposal, though it eventually died in a House committee without receiving
a hearing.

This leaves age restrictions in the hands of retailers.

Hensen said his smoke shop, along with other stores he communicates with
regularly, have already restricted access to their stores to people 21 or
older since the state increased the age to purchase tobacco to 21 in 2019.

Supporters of a ban also cited concerns over quality control of hemp
products, something Hensen said his store already prioritizes.

“If you have a bad product on your shelves, customers aren’t going to come
back and buy it again,” Hensen said. “There’s no reason to have something
that would send someone to the hospital.”
Damage already done

While the hemp industry avoided a catastrophic total ban, the decision by
lawmakers to remove THC vapes from the market is expected to negatively
affect businesses. Hensen, along with several other smoke shop managers in
Austin, estimated the vapes made up about 20 percent of their sales every
month.

“I had a couple people yesterday who came in asking for [THC] vapes,” said
Eduard Streltsov, a manager at Dream Planet Smoke Shop in East Austin.
“When I told them we didn’t have them anymore, they left without buying
anything.”

At the same time, the medical marijuana expansion made it so dispensaries
are now allowed to sell THC vapes, potentially tightening the existing
competition between the two cannabis industries.

Along with consumable hemp, the shops sell nicotine products, glass pipes
and bongs. Most shops said a total ban would not force them to completely
shut down, but it would likely lead to cutting hours for some employees and
layoffs for others.

The uncertainty in the hemp industry has also prevented growth. Austin
Smoke & Vape at the start of the year was planning to open a new location
and hire more employees, but those plans were paused in the spring as the
ban measure made its way through the Legislature.

Regardless of action by the Legislature, advocates said the Texas
Department of State Health Services already has laws in place to be able to
provide oversight for the hemp industry, but lawmakers noted they are
rarely enforced. Law enforcement officials contend they lack the funding to
be able to regularly inspect and test hemp products because more deadly
drugs like fentanyl take priority at crime labs.
Medical marijuana’s impact

The country’s conflicting cannabis laws have pitted two sides of the
industry against each other in Texas. Although hemp-derived THC is legal,
marijuana remains federally illegal except with a prescription. Companies
in the heavily regulated Texas medical industry, which has pushed for
regulation and never heavily opposed a ban on its sister industry, have reported
losing customers to the hemp industry.

Texas has had a medical marijuana program since 2015, and it has been
expanded three times since in 2019, 2021 and this year. The program is
restrictive, only allowing patients with a narrow set of conditions to get
a prescription to purchase marijuana from a small number of distributors
permitted to operate in the state.

Jervonne Singletary, a spokesperson for the Austin medical marijuana
company goodblend, said that while her company believes both the hemp
industry and medical marijuana industry can coexist in Texas, the company
was disappointed to not see restrictions passed that put the industries on
a more level playing field.

“We want to ensure that what people are taking is safe and effective for
the reasons that they’re taking it,” Singletary said. “At the end of the
day, these are both intoxicating products with very, very few genetic
differences, and so they should be treated in some form or fashion in a
like manner.”

The Legislature’s uncertainty over hemp-derived THC also impacted the
medical marijuana industry. Singletary’s company fielded calls throughout
the spring and summer from patients concerned that the legislative debate
would also harm access to medical marijuana.

The passage of expansion for the medical marijuana program will still be a
boon for the industry, Singletary said, pointing to the law’s removal of
restrictions like an arduous requirement that dispensaries not hold their
product in stores overnight. But the rollout could take several months,
delaying an increase in access for ailing users.

“The uncertainty has been a bit hard to plan in, but I think now we are
past that uncertainty that hinders business development, and we can move
forward as a company, and the industry can move forward with the
legislature that actually supports the program.”

Heather Fazio, director of advocacy for Texas Cannabis Policy Center, said
in spite of the intense debates surrounding medical marijuana and hemp in
2025, Texas is closer than ever to legalizing recreational marijuana.
Fazio’s advocacy group has worked in Texas for a decade to push the
creation of the medical marijuana program, decriminalize marijuana
possession, protect the hemp industry and fully legalize the drug.

“We’re headed in the right direction, and we’re having meaningful
conversations about these policies,” Fazio said. “When we are able to have
a seat at the table and have lawmakers at the table, we start to really
break down the issue and help to find shared values.”

*This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-thc-shops-retailers-ban-relief-age-limit/.*

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