With the summer special legislative session in the Lone Star
State having come and gone without meaningful reforms for
consumable hemp THC products, Governor Abbott has exercised his
executive authority and ordered certain executive agencies to
implement common-sense rules for such products as a stopgap until
comprehensive legislation is passed.
On September 10, 2025, Governor Abbott issued executive order GA-56 directing the Texas
Alcoholic Beverage Commission ("TABC"), the Department of
State Health Services ("DSHS") and the Department of
Public Safety ("DPS") to promulgate new and revise
existing regulations governing consumable hemp THC products.
Following on the heels of the Governor's veto of SB3 earlier
this year (legislation that was championed by Texas Lt. Governor
Dan Patrick and would have banned consumable hemp THC products),
the executive order reflects the Governor's longstanding belief
that consumable hemp THC products should exist in the market, but
be tightly regulated and kept out of the hands of children. Indeed,
in a press conference accompanying the executive order, Governor
Abbott declared:
Among other things, executive order GA-56 instructs:
- DSHS to review and, potentially, revise existing rules related to testing and labeling consumable hemp THC products, including the revision of testing requirements to ensure that tests measure the total delta-9 THC content of a hemp derived product by accounting for the conversion of THCA.
- DSHS to increase application and renewal fees for the industry to provide additional resources to state agencies for oversight and enforcement activities.
- DSHS to clarify existing product labeling requirements to better inform consumers, including by listing the amount and concentration of cannabinoids contained in a product, recommended serving size and health warnings consistent with consumer protection laws.
- DSHS and TABC to pass regulations banning sales to minors and requiring all retailers to verify the government-issued ID at the point of sale or else risk revocation of their retail license.
- DPS to step up enforcement of violations of state hemp rules and to coordinate with other local law enforcement and regulatory agencies in its enforcement efforts.
Following the executive order, on September 23, 2025, TABC
published two emergency rules which: 1) bar any business
with a TABC license from selling consumable hemp products to
customers under 21; and 2) require all TABC licensees to verify
government-issued IDs for customers seeking to purchase such
products. According to the preamble for the emergency rules, the
"emergency adoption is necessary to help prevent minors from
accessing and using consumable hemp products (CHP) that will
negatively impact the minors' health, which in turn negatively
impacts the general welfare and public safety." Notably, the
penalty for violating the emergency rules - revocation of a
business' TABC license - is severe.
Although the emergency rules took effect immediately upon
publication on September 23, 2025, TABC will not begin enforcing
the rules until October 1, 2025 so that affected businesses have
sufficient notice and opportunity to adjust to the new rules. Under
Texas law, emergency rules may remain in effect only for 180 days,
though TABC has indicated that it intends to promulgate a similar
rule through the normal notice and comment rulemaking process. We
will continue to monitor the rulemaking activities of the TABC,
DSHS and DPS as the agencies implement the mandates from the
Governor's executive order.
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