4:42 P.M.Huey Ellis purchases smokeable hemp-derived THCA products at Happy Clouds smoke shop in Austin on March 30, 2026, the day before Texas bans the sale of them. 4:48 P.M.Ellis poses for a portrait after purchasing smokeable hemp-derived THCA products the day before Texas bans the sale of them. 4:55 P.M.Hemp flower under a magnifying […]

New rules from state health officials ban smokeable intoxicating hemp products, including pre-rolled joints and hemp flower.

Attorneys for hemp businesses say the raids have hurt their revenue and reputation, while police said they’re necessary to root out products with illegal levels of THC.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued provisional licenses to nine new medical marijuana operators while existing ones have started opening new manufacturing and cultivating facilities.

Hemp advocates say raising annual licensing fees for retailers from $150 to $20,000 and for manufacturers from $250 to $25,000 would shutter small businesses.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday, a month after it moved forward with its efforts to regulate the sale of consumable hemp products.

TABC intends to proceed with the adoption of permanent regulations on the hemp industry in Texas despite the potential ban.

The issue roiled Texas politics earlier this year when Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a ban on THC products spearheaded by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

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.

San Antonio police said a man has been arrested after a 1-year-old girl in his care ingested a marijuana edible.

Veterans have been on the front lines of the fight to keep THC legal in Texas.

The statewide survey found that more voters disapprove of the mid-decade redraw than support it, fueled by overwhelming opposition from independent and Democratic voters.

The executive order comes after the Legislature ended a special session without the House, Senate and governor agreeing on restrictions.

Another special Texas legislative session ended without action on banning or further regulating consumable hemp products. However, a narrower ban on certain vapes has taken away one popular way to consume THC variations.

While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick remains adamant about a ban, hemp industry representatives say they would compromise on creating a 21 age limit to purchase.

Legislators couldn’t reach a last-minute deal to tighten regulations on consumable hemp products.

Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.

Miller denies wrongdoing after allegations surfaced during an investigation into one his aides, who pled guilty to bribery. The agriculture commissioner has not been charged with a crime.

Texas lawmakers will reconvene at the Capitol on Monday for a special legislative session to address 18 agenda items, including the implementation of flood warning systems after the deadly July flooding in the Hill Country.

The Republican governor laid out an ambitious agenda that includes an unexpected array of conservative bills that failed during the regular session.

Medical program leaders want a ban on synthetic delta-8 THC, which makes up the bulk of consumable hemp products.

Although Patrick and hemp industry leaders have quarreled over the risks and benefits of THC, cannabis researchers say it can be addictive but doesn’t usually cause widespread psychosis or brain damage.

The statewide survey also found that Texas Republicans are closely divided on the issue.

San Antonio smoke shops and THC retailers sighed in relief Monday after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a proposal to ban THC and most other consumable hemp products in Texas. Instead, Abbott urged legislators to consider regulating the products in a manner similar to alcohol.

Hemp industry leaders say they agree with regulations similar to how the state regulates alcohol.

The clash marks a rare break between two of the most powerful Republicans in Texas after a legislative session that ushered in a series of conservative victories.

This week, we run an emergency episode to discuss Gov. Greg Abbott vetoing Texas THC ban and calling a special session. Will redistricting end up on the agenda?

Texas hemp users stockpile products and consider moving out of state as ban looms, saying the medical marijuana program is currently an untenable alternative.

It’s an unusual situation for the lieutenant governor, long viewed by GOP activists as a stalwart conservative responsible for driving the Legislature rightward.

House Bill 46, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, would include more patients with chronic pain and allow for prescribed vaporized and aerosol products.

In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor talk with politics reporter Jasper Scherer about education funding, a THC ban and the success of conservative priorities this year.

While state leaders say growers can still produce industrial hemp, farmers say they will quit growing the plant altogether under a total THC ban.

The governor has not addressed whether he supports the ban, as hemp industry leaders have urged him to veto Senate Bill 3.

A bill that would make it illegal to sell THC products could soon head over to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. For a cannabis store employee, lawmakers don't know enough about the industry they're trying to shut down.

Gov. Greg Abbott called a special legislative session asking lawmakers to instead strictly regulate the substance.

The House approved the ban after previously considering proposals to preserve the industry by tightening regulations.

House Bill 46 would increase the number of health conditions eligible and would offer smokeable products under the state’s medical marijuana program.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called banning THC products a top priority. The latest draft of the lower chamber’s THC regulation bill would allow retailers to continue selling edibles and drinks.

Only Gov. Greg Abbott can call for a special session. But in his role presiding over the Texas Senate, Patrick can block any bill from passing, giving him leverage to compel overtime sessions by killing must-pass legislation.

There is little doubt that a ban will sail through the Senate. But its prospects are far less certain in the House.

Senate Bill 3 would criminalize the manufacturing and selling of nearly all consumable hemp products that contain THC.

Patrick contends retailers have exploited a law passed in 2019 to sell unregulated and potentially harmful consumable tetrahydrocannabinol products.

Dallas is the sixth Texas city the attorney general has sued this year over marijuana decriminalization measures that he says conflicts with state law.

Voters in Dallas have passed a proposition that would decriminalize possession of four ounces or less of marijuana.

Medical marijuana providers say they must operate under strict rules while hemp products like delta-8 can proliferate.

A state appeals court ruled that Austin’s voter-approved ordinance obstructed the enforcement of state drug laws. The court rejected a similar ordinance in San Marcos last week.

Other cities have passed similar measures, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued to block them from going into effect.

Lawmakers are struggling to balance demands for medicinal cannabis products with a wildly growing market that is outpacing meaningful regulation.

Thousands of hemp dispensaries have sprung up in Texas in the years since consumable hemp became legal.

A ballot proposition would have instructed police not to arrest people who have four ounces or less of marijuana.

A federal proposal to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug has raised the hopes of some pot backers that more states will embrace cannabis.

There is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum. So, supporters are going city by city to build statewide momentum.

The Texas attorney general has sued five other cities that have passed similar policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton — to block their ordinances decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession.

Voters in several Texas cities have sought to decriminalize marijuana. However, their efforts have been met by reluctant city councils that say they can’t go against state law.

Home to more than 260,000 people, the West Texas town of Lubbock is no stranger to passing local laws by petition. In 2021, residents overwhelmingly approved a local ban on abortion.

What issue or candidate is motivating you to vote in the May 6 election? Do you have questions or concerns for candidates about issues or ballot measures that you’d like KSAT to get answered?

Where do you stand on Prop A?

Proposition A, or the so-called "San Antonio Justice Charter," is expected to be the big draw for the May 6 election. We break down the 13-page proposed charter amendment.

San Antonio's Proposition A won't be the first attempt to decriminalize marijuana locally. Six other Texas cities have overwhelmingly passed ballot initiatives with similar language, though the results have varied greatly.

North East Independent School District police officers repeatedly threw marijuana and other THC products confiscated from students into school dumpsters and trash cans, a months-long probe by KSAT Investigates found.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday knocked down a legal challenge to the proposed San Antonio charter amendment, paving the way for residents to vote on the wide-sweeping measure May 6.

Police often can’t tell if a cannabis vape pen is derived from marijuana or legal hemp, like the delta-8 products on display in gas stations across Texas. That doesn’t stop them from from making felony arrests in high schools.

Because the proposed charter amendment was the result of a successful petition, the city’s legal team said the city council had no choice but to put it on the ballot.Even so, three North Side councilmen made sure to leave council chambers rather than help pass it: Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8), Councilman John Courage (D9), and Councilman Clayton Perry (D10).

The "San Antonio Justice Charter" has enough signatures to get on the ballot, but will it matter? The City Attorney claims most of the proposed changes aren't legal, and the city wouldn't try to enforce them, even if they were to pass.

The new delta-8 hemp products, which are widely available, can produce a high similar to marijuana’s. State Sen. Charles Perry said he and his peers never intended for such products to reach the market.

Some local leaders say they worry the changes violate state law, while residents who supported decriminalizing marijuana say the pushback disrespects democracy.

Voters in Denton, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Harker Heights overwhelmingly supported the local ballot propositions to decriminalize low-level possession. These moves followed Austin voters’ similar decision in May.

Pot is a popular topic on ballots again this election.

Biden’s federal pardons will help at least 6,500 people, though most possession crimes are charged at the state level. Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t yet said whether he’ll follow suit. Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke was quick to support the measure.

In 2019, Texas legalized hemp, but not marijuana. The new law led to confusion about which marijuana products are legal in Texas. Meanwhile, support for legalizing the drug remains high in polling, and other cannabis-derived products like delta-8 have emerged.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s openness to marijuana decriminalization shows that the state, while conservative, isn’t immune to larger trends.

“Small possession of marijuana is not the type of violation that we want to stockpile jails with,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.

Texas health officials insist delta-8 is an illegal substance and has been for 40 years.

A Travis County judge temporarily blocked the state from listing delta-8 as a Schedule I drug, which effectively made it illegal. The cannabis extract became popular because users say it produces the “high” effect of marijuana.

A recent clarification on the legality of Delta-8 by the Texas Department of State Health Services has local business owners concerned.

The federal farm bill in 2018 made the substance legal because of its low THC content.

From constitutional carry and critical race theory to alchol purchases on Sunday morning, here are 9 new laws that will go into effect Sept. 1 in Texas.

A new law going into effect Sept. 1 will also increase the cap of THC in medical marijuana to 1%.

If signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, House Bill 1535 would allow hundreds of thousands of Texans to join roughly 2 million residents in qualifying for the state’s medical marijuana program.

House Bill 1535 expands eligibility for the Texas Compassionate Use Program to people with cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder. It's effective Sept. 1.

House Bill 1535 would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to include those with chronic pain, all cancer patients and Texans with post-traumatic stress disorder. But it hasn’t yet been referred to a Senate committee.

A new midterm report gives the public an overview of the work being done by District Attorney Joe Gonzales and his office.

The legalization of recreational marijuana use and gambling in Texas has faced uphill battles for years in the legislature, but a new poll shows a solid majority of likely voters in Bexar County would approve expanding both measures across the state.

Most Texas voters support expanded gambling in the state, and a clear majority would legalize marijuana in some capacity. But voters support changes to laws around a number of high-profile secondary issues, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Most Texas voters support expanded gambling in the state, and a clear majority would legalize marijuana in some capacity. They remain split when it comes to the state’s abortion laws, but the number wanting stricter abortion laws has fallen over the last year, while those wanting less strict laws has risen. At that time, 52% of Texas voters thought Confederate displays should be removed or relocated, and 43% thought they should remain, in some form, where they are now.

The Texas Legislature convened Tuesday for the first day of its 87th regular session. George Floyd ActTexas’ longest-serving woman and Black person in the history of the Texas Legislature, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, has a compilation of bills she’s introducing during the legislative session that deals with police reform called the George Floyd Act. Gutierrez previously said legalization would result in an estimated $3.2 billion in state revenue and 30,000 high-paying jobs, boosting employment in agriculture, manufacture, retail and distributing. One bill filed by a San Antonio lawmaker would change that. As Las Vegas Sands prepares to send lobbyists to sway lawmakers to expand gambling, one bill filed a Democratic Representative from Beaumont makes that possible.

While campaigning for the state Senate seat, Gutierrez, a Democrat, made marijuana legalization one of his campaign platforms. In 2015, Texas lawmakers passed the Texas Compassionate Use Act, which legalized medical cannabis with less than 0.5% THC for people with specific diagnoses, like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Veterans unsuccessfully lobbied the legislature to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as one of the diagnoses that qualify for medical marijuana use. Public sentiment has grown in Texas for marijuana legalization, polls showed. Dan Patrick, have yet to embrace marijuana legalization and have not completely been supportive of expanding medical use.

While we may not know if President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden won the presidential election for a while longer, there was one clear “winner” on election night, and that was recreational drugs. States across the country have been legalizing recreational marijuana every election cycle, and 2020 was no different. Residents in New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota all voted to legalize recreational cannabis, and South Dakota also legalized medical marijuana, along with Mississippi. South Dakota became the first state to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in the same election. For the first time in U.S. history, the state of Oregon decriminalized possession of hard drugs, as well as voted to legalize psychedelic mushrooms.

NEW JERSEY – Voters in New Jersey just passed legislation the authorize the legal use of recreational use of marijuana and now it seems some people are getting ready to partake in the once-illegal past time based on a unique spike of Google searches. TMZ first reported a nearly 3,000% jump in the search term “how to roll a joint” on Tuesday evening as Garden State residents saw the ballot measure to legally smoke, grow and sell marijuana pass. In fact, three of the top five Google searches in New Jersey as of Wednesday morning all relate to the legalization of marijuana vote for the state - the other two are election results for the presidential race. Marijuana for recreational use is already legal in 11 states including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada, Michigan, Colorado, Illinois, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine. Arizona, Montana and South Dakota also voted to legalize recreational marijuana in the 2020 election along with New Jersey.

On September 18, GCSO seized several pounds of drugs that included candy made to look like Skittles, Nerds, and other popular bands. The day before, Gillespie County Sheriff deputies swiped 23 pounds of THC edibles. “Most narcotic-related homicides or robberies have to do with THC products,” he explains. “You do a drug deal with THC products and these guys come strapped,” Flores said. Parents who discover their kid in possession of these drugs should contact law enforcement so they can investigate where the drugs are coming from.

After touring a state-licensed Austin-area marijuana facility last week, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller indicated he would like to see the program expanded. “I would certainly expand medical marijuana. Critics say Texans with ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or glaucoma should be allowed access to medical marijuana. While Miller expressed the need to expand medical access to marijuana in Texas, he stopped short of advocating for legalizing the drug recreationally. While Miller doesn’t have a vote in the Legislature, his agency does oversee the licensing of medical marijuana cultivators in Texas.

SAN ANTONIO – Taking a closer look at both the marijuana and hemp plants and you will discover the huge difference between the two. Hemp plants have .3 percent or less of THC, while the marijuana plants have a higher level. Their appearance from far away may look the same but when you get close the hemp plant grows taller and skinnier, while the marijuana plant has buds, or flowers, and doesn’t grow as tall. The dried flowers of a marijuana plant are what people smoke. Hemp is legal to grow and possess in Texas and marijuana isn’t.

Officers seize over $920K in marijuana within commercial shipment at World Trade BridgeLAREDO, Texas – Officers intercepted a shipment containing narcotics with an estimated street value of over $920,000 at the World Trade Bridge, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officials said the seizure occurred Thursday when an officer referred a freightliner trailer hauling a shipment of motor vehicle parts for a secondary examination. Following a canine and non-intrusive imaging system examination, officers found 198 packages containing about 4,600 pounds of alleged marijuana concealed within the shipment, officials said. AdU.S. Customs and Border Protection seized the narcotics and trailer. The case was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations special agents for further investigation, officials said.

Marijuana suspect jailed for lighting up a joint in front of a judgePublished: January 29, 2020, 12:59 pmSpencer Boston, 20, lit a marijuana cigarette in front of a judge during his court appearance for simple marijuana possession on Monday in Wilson County, Tennessee.

SAN ANTONIO – Midway through a sold out two night stand at the Majestic Theater here, country music icon Willie Nelson said that in spite of recent breathing related health issues, he has no plans to give up touring. “I love the bus,” he told KSAT TV’s Paul Venema during a recent interview. “I don’t smoke anymore - take better care of myself,” Nelson said. His health issues have generated rumors suggesting that he is near death. “I don’t give a (expletive deleted) I’m here, I’m glad to be here,” and with a smile added “I’m lucky to be here.”

A memo obtained by The Texas Tribune instructs DPS officers to cite and release suspects in misdemeanor marijuana cases "as appropriate." Officials said the goal is to continue enforcement even though some prosecutors aren't taking new pot cases.

Crime labs repeatedly told lawmakers and budget officials that they couldn't distinguish between hemp and marijuana without new testing resources. The issue got almost no attention.

While lawmakers in the 86th Texas Legislature advanced measures on some controversial issues, they know it often takes several sessions to pass bills and say they intend to refile them next time.

Watch the first episode of our mini-documentary series, “Under the Dome,” chronicling the cast of characters passing laws in the Texas State Capitol.