New Texas THC Rules: Here's What You Need To Know
New Texas THC Rules: Here's What You Need To Know
- Strict new THC regulations limit potency, require testing and packaging, and increase retailer fees.
- Supporters cite public health risks, while opponents argue it empowers illicit markets and reduces access.
- Lawmakers plan to study THC's impact on healthcare costs, mental health, and psychosis risk.
After months of court battles, the new THC rules went into place on Friday, July 31. The “Total THC” Rules were supposed to take effect March 31 but were paused several times.
In May, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the Department of State Health Services has broad authority to regulate substances. This ruling allowed officials to move ahead with plans to enforce the new rules while lawsuits about them play out. These rules were initially adopted in 2021 before years of court battles pushed back enforcement.
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With the new regulations, there is a 0.3% THC limit for consumable hemp products. The rules also required testing as well as child-resistant packaging. Retailers’ licensing fees were also hiked from about $250 to $10,000 in some cases. Delta-8, Delta-10, and several related THC products are affected by this ban.
Due to state and federal laws, Delta-8 products are exempt, allowing them in a naturally occurring form as long as they don’t exceed the .3% by dry weight.
Sarah Wood works with the Texas cannabis policy center, which opposes the new restrictions. She says, “These policies make our citizens less safe and free. Recriminalizing cannabis empowers the illicit market and puts regulated companies out of business.” Wood says that licensed sellers are already compliant with strict testing and labeling requirements, and these new rules could potentially push customers to buy unregulated THC products.
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However, some support this new rule; the Texas Medical Association, including their president Dr. Bradford Holland, MD, approve of the new regulations.
Holland tells news sources, “Even last year, about 544 calls to our poison control center with children under the age of five ingesting these substances. So it is a public control, public health issue.” Dr. Holland does not dismiss the potential for THC use in medicine but says products vary widely in strength, which should result in more oversight. He says, “There needs to be much more regulation and testing before we make any higher levels available. But frankly, we’re very comfortable with the current law as it’s going to be enacted.”
Texas Lieutenant Dan Patrick has already changed a state senate committee to be studying “the impact of THC on increased health care costs, mental health emergency detentions, and the risk of being diagnosed with a THC-induced psychotic disorder.”
The legislative session begins jan 12.
New Texas THC Rules: Here's What You Need To Know was originally published on thebeatdfw.com
