Texas Hemp Rules Update Would Hike Licensing Fees 13,000%

A proposal from the Texas Department of State Health Services published
last month would increase the cost of hemp business licenses by over
13,000%, the Texas Tribune reports.

Under the proposed rules, the cost of a hemp product manufacturer license
would increase from $250 to $25,000 per year per facility. The cost of a
hemp product retailer license would increase from $150 to $20,000 per year
per location.

The rules would also establish a minimum purchasing age of 21 and set age
verification and product recall requirements for the hemp products industry.

The industry has been operating under emergency hemp rules issued last
October after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered the state in September to take
action.

Texas Cannabis Policy Center Heather Fazio said in a statement that if the
rules are to be implemented as proposed, “Many small businesses simply
cannot afford to absorb this level of cost and will be forced to shut down.”

“Business licensing and registration fees should not be punitive. They
should be structured to recover the reasonable costs of effective
regulation — not to function as a revenue mechanism that drives compliant
businesses out of the regulated market. The department’s own estimates show
that the increased costs of administering these rules are minimal. In that
context, it is unclear why such dramatic fee increases are necessary or
justified.” — Fazio, in a statement

In November, President Trump signed a federal spending bill containing a
crackdown on the sale of hemp-derived THC set to take effect on November
12, 2026.