Texas health officials have released a set of proposed rules to regulate the state’s hemp market—including provisions related to age-gating, licensing fees, testing requirements, packaging restrictions and more in response to an executive order the governor signed in September.
The proposal would also shift hemp to a total THC standard, rather than the current one that limits delta-9 THC content alone, which advocates say will eliminate some popular products from the market.
Various state agencies have been taking steps to align their policies with the governor’s order, and now the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is outlining its plan to expand and codify hemp rules in a notice published in the Texas Register on Friday.
One of the more significant provisions makes it so consumable hemp products could not be sold to people under 21. That policy is already in place under an emergency rule the agency adopted in October, so officials are now seeking to finalize it.
There would also be increased licensing fees for hemp businesses under the rules, which DSHS CFO Christy Havel Burton said would mean the industry “may incur economic costs” in the first five years of implementation.
“Some retailers and manufacturers may incur
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