‘This is our livelihood’: Shutdown-ending bill could shut down Texas THC businesses

SAN ANTONIO – After staving off attempts at a statewide THC ban, the Texas hemp industry could still go up in smoke with Congress voting to reopen the federal government.

Within the legislation to end the longest-ever government shutdown is language that would ban hemp-derived THC products that have anything more than 0.4 milligrams of THC or other cannabinoids that could produce a high per container.

The head of the Texas Hemp Business Council questioned whether even some non-psychoactive CBD products might fail to meet the lower THC threshold.

“Most, if not the entire (Texas hemp) industry will be wiped out,” Mark Bordas told KSAT on Wednesday.

The Senate passed the legislation Monday night, and the House passed it Wednesday evening, sending the measure to President Donald Trump.

“This was a dark alley mugging is what this was,” Bordas said. “This was not a fair debate. This was not thoughtful consideration. This was inserted into a piece of legislation that they needed to move, and they needed it to get done.”

The sale of hemp-derived edible and smokable THC products has exploded in Texas since the 2018 Farm Bill and a 2019 Texas law defined hemp as cannabis with less than a 0.3% concentration of delta-9 THC by dry weight, the main psychoactive component of marijuana.

The definition left room for other variants of THC, such as delta-8, which could still provide users with a “high.” Even delta-9 products made their way to Texas shelves, based on the 0.3% threshold.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick led the charge to try to ban THC during the 2025 legislative session, but Gov. Greg Abbott, who preferred regulation, vetoed a ban passed during the regular session. The state Legislature failed to pass any further attempts at THC regulation or bans during a pair of subsequent special sessions.

Eventually, Abbott issued an executive order ordering state agencies to begin the rule-making process to ban the sale of hemp products to minors.

Jackie Walji owns Mellow Monkey on the Northwest Side with her husband. She breathed a sigh of relief when the attempts at a Texas ban fell short, but she’s not breathing so easy now.

Most of their profits come from THC products, she said on Wednesday, none of which would meet the proposed limit. She thinks they might be able to get by, since they had been a smoke shop before the hemp loophole opened up, and could go back to selling more smoking accessories like pipes and grinders.

Other stores, Walji said, “opened up on just THC, period,” and would likely be out of business if the ban goes through.

“It’s really scary for, you know, people who own their own businesses, small businesses, because ... this is our livelihood,” Walji said.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) tried to strip the hemp restrictions from the legislation on Monday, but his amendment was tabled. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was the only other Republican to support him, posting on X that he believed regulation of hemp and marijuana products should rest with individual states.

Patrick, though, trumpeted the ban’s inclusion in the legislation.

“I believe this ban will save a generation from getting hooked on dangerous drugs,” he posted Monday night.

Even if the ban passes, it would be a year before it takes effect, and Bordas expects there will be a fight to repeal it.

“So now here we are with this language that was snuck in and, you know, again, circumventing usual committee process and would not pass as standalone. So I think we have a chance,” Bordas said, “but passing legislation is always more difficult than killing legislation."

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