Texas hemp businesses can keep selling cannabis flower and concentrates for now after a Travis County judge blocked key parts of the state's new hemp regulations while a lawsuit plays out.
Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle granted a temporary injunction Friday, stopping Texas health officials from enforcing a new "total delta-9 THC" standard that counted THCA toward the legal THC limit for consumable hemp products. THCA is a naturally occuring compound in cannabis that converts into Delta-9 when heated or smoked.
Delta-9 is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Under Texas law, hemp is a legal category of cannabis with less than 0.3% Delta-9 by dry weight.
The judge also blocked related transport restrictions, sharply higher licensing and registration fees and a penalty structure that would have treated each day of some violations as a separate violation.
"We are obviously excited about this ruling," said Jason Snell, an attorney for the hemp businesses suing. "[Judge DeSeta Lyttle] issued a statewide injunction which prohibits what we believe are illegal rules from going into effect, which would cripple the hemp industry statewide and deprive consumers and everyday Texans from access to legal products."
The injunction doesn't block all of the new hemp rules. The judge wrote that unchallenged provisions, including requirements for child-resistant packaging, having to be 21 to purchase hemp products and some consumer-safety regulations remain in effect.
The state is expected to appeal the temporary injunction.
In a separate development Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state can criminalize Delta-8 THC made from hemp-derived CBD, but allowed hemp businesses to continue their lawsuit to stop it.
Naturally-occurring Delta-8, which is generally a less psychoactive cannabinoid than Delta-9, remains legal.
This is a developing story.
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