A coalition of Texas hemp industry leaders and advocacy organizations are suing state officials over recently enacted rules restricting access to hemp-derived products such as smokable THCA flower.
The lawsuit, brought by the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC), Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA) and several businesses, alleges that the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) illegally bypassed lawmakers to restrict the sale and manufacture of consumable hemp products.
The dispute centers on how hemp is defined.
Under state law as approved by the legislature and governor in 2019, the suit says, cannabis products are legal if they contain a delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent. But regulators at DSHS and HHSC recently adopted a “total delta-9 THC” limit using a post-decarboxylation formula that includes tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) in the calculation.
“These Texas officials and state agencies are clearly attempting to create new law in direct contradiction to what the Texas legislature intended,” David Sergi, a lawyer leading the case, said in a press release.
“The Texas hemp business community is not challenging rules related to age verification or consumer protections. They wholeheartedly support those regulations, as they fall
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