Gov. Abbott calls for tougher action against vape, smoke shops violating hemp laws

AUSTIN, Texas – Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to step up hemp enforcement against vape and smoke shops that are not compliant with state laws and regulations.

“Texas will protect children from dangerous hemp products,” Abbott said in a Tuesday news release. “Today, I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase surveillance and enforcement of any vape and smoke shop violating Texas law. Texas will prioritize protecting our children.”

According to the release, the following actions will be taken following Abbott’s guidance:

• DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division (CID) will conduct targeted operations to identify vape and smoke shops of concern before working with state, local and federal partners to perform inspections to determine legal violations.
• DPS CID special agents will use findings from inspections to conduct undercover operations to identify unlawful activity and initiate further criminal investigations.
• The DPS Crime Lab will conduct testing on any seized products from the investigations. CID special agents will follow up the investigations to bring charges against employees and shop ownership in violation of Texas law.
• DPS will leverage all federal and local law enforcement partnerships to further investigations.

In September, Abbott issued an executive order directing the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to ban the sale of hemp products to minors.

The order also directed the agencies to require verification of government-issued IDs at the point of sale.

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