Texas hemp, delta-8, delta-9 and THCA laws

The law in Texas

Texas regulates consumable hemp products under Chapter 443 of the Health and Safety Code. A consumable hemp product is a food, drug, device or cosmetic that contains hemp or hemp-derived cannabinoids. The Agriculture Code defines hemp the way the 2018 federal law does: no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis.

The Department of State Health Services runs the program. Manufacturers need a DSHS license and every retail location needs a DSHS registration. DSHS says an online seller outside Texas that sells to Texans needs a retail registration too.

Each product must be analyzed by an ISO 17025 accredited lab, and a product over the limit may not be sold. Labels must carry a batch number and date, the product name, the manufacturer and a link to the certificate of analysis, which may be a URL or QR code.

The 2025 session and the governor's order

The Legislature passed SB 3 in 2025, a bill to ban THC in consumable hemp products. The governor vetoed it on June 22, 2025. Hemp bills passed the Senate in both special sessions that followed (SB 5 and SB 6), and neither passed the House.

On September 10, 2025 the governor issued Executive Order GA-56. It directed DSHS and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to bar sales to minors and require a government ID, and directed DSHS to count THCA when testing for total delta-9 THC.

The rules that followed

DSHS adopted permanent rules in 25 TAC Chapter 300, effective March 31, 2026. In summary:

• Age 21. A minor is anyone under 21, and the seller must check ID.
• Total delta-9 THC. Testing reports the sum of delta-9 THC and THCA on a dry weight basis, and that total must be 0.3 percent or less.
• Fees. $10,000 per facility for a manufacturer license and $5,000 per location for a retail registration.
• Labels and packaging. New warnings, milligrams per serving, a certificate of analysis reachable in three steps or fewer, and child-resistant, tamper-evident, resealable packaging.

TABC rules, 16 TAC sections 35.5 and 35.6, effective January 21, 2026, bar its licensees from selling consumable hemp products to anyone under 21 and require an ID check.

The DSHS rules are being challenged in court. A Travis County court granted a temporary injunction on May 1, 2026, and the case is on appeal at the Fifteenth Court of Appeals (No. 15-26-00099-CV), with oral argument set for December 8, 2026. DSHS's program page says its fees have been restored. We will update this page when the court rules.

Delta-8

For years an injunction in Sky Marketing Corp. kept DSHS from listing delta-8 THC as a controlled substance. On May 1, 2026 the Texas Supreme Court reversed it. DSHS then reinstated its 2021 THC definitions, effective July 31, 2026: only naturally occurring trace amounts of delta-8 are allowed, and DSHS says products labeled as delta-8 may be detained and referred to law enforcement.

Smokable hemp and THCA flower

Chapter 443 bans processing or manufacturing a consumable hemp product for smoking in Texas. The Texas Supreme Court upheld that ban in Crown Distributing (2022). Because DSHS stopped defending its ban on distributing and selling smokables made elsewhere, that part stays blocked, and the DSHS FAQ says such products may be sold at retail.

Under the March 2026 rules, a smokable product must still meet the total delta-9 THC standard, which counts THCA. DSHS declined to change that rule in response to comments that opposed its effect on THCA flower.

The federal change on December 11

Texas law and federal law apply side by side. From December 11, 2026, the federal definition counts total THC and limits a finished hemp-derived cannabinoid product to 0.4 mg per container. Read the federal page and What's changing on December 11.

Products with no THC fall outside both: broad spectrum and isolate CBD, THC-free topicals and functional mushrooms.