08/09/2025
Retailers relieved that Texas skirted a THC ban — again
By Paul Cobler, Alex Nguyen, The Texas Tribune
When news broke Wednesday afternoon of a last-minute push to pass new, stricter regulations for consumable h**p products, the employees at Austin V**e & Smoke sprung into action.
Zaquiri Hensen, a manager at the South Austin store, said he alerted his staff and other stores around the city before beginning to contact his legislators, urging them to reject any strict regulation or ban. Every customer that came into the store for the rest of the day was told to do the same, Hensen said.
“I still watched the House stream just in case because you never know what’s going to happen on the House floor,” Hensen said.
Hensen was finally able to relax around 9 p.m. when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced in a post on X that the Senate would wrap up the second special session hours later, effectively closing out the Legislature without any new THC restrictions or a ban.
The smoke shop’s ability to quickly mobilize played no small part in the incredible opposition from the estimated $8 billion Texas h**p industry and its customer base against legislative threats this year. For the better part of 2025, that industry has grappled with the uncertainty of state legislators seeking to ban or sharply curtail its sales, but on Wednesday, the industry collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
After eight months of committee hearings, debates, a surprise decision by Gov. Greg Abbott to veto a total ban of h**p in June and last-minute negotiations on Wednesday, the status quo will largely remain in place for the industry, for now. H**p-derived THC products — the gummies, flower buds and drinks that are sold at convenience stores, liquor stores, smoke shops and even some grocers across the state — will remain legal.
Cynthia Cabrera, president of the industry trade association Texas H**p Business Council, said she never relaxed throughout the two special sessions this summer, despite the lack of public effort from the House to again pass a total ban of h**p. She barely slept as the Senate remained in session until early Thursday morning.
“I’m glad I stayed vigilant,” said Cabrera, who is also the chief strategy officer of Hometown Hero, Austin-based manufacturer of h**p-derived THC products. “There’s no rest for the weary.”
The Legislature’s impasse means the debate over what to do about h**p products could rage on. Patrick, who has cited protecting children from using the products as key motivator, reiterated in his post on X that he remains committed to a total ban, despite Abbott’s opposition for such a measure.
A likely next step: Age restrictions
Earlier this year, the Legislature did successfully pass some efforts addressing the sale and marketing of THC products geared toward youth. For instance, the ban on the sale of v**e pens, even those that just contain ni****ne — which passed during the regular session and took effect Monday — explicitly applies to any made to look like pens, highlighters, smartphones or other items often seen in schools.
But lawmakers failed to pass an age limit for who can purchase THC products, despite the proposal garnering wide support. Major h**p industry representatives have said they welcome more regulation over an outright ban and Abbott in his veto of the THC h**p ban called for restrictions including age limits.
“If there was a legitimate concern with public safety and access by minors, then that would be resolved by an age gate bill,” Cabrera said. “This piecemeal approach just means [state Sen.] Charles Perry and Dan Patrick lacked the thoughtfulness required to ensure Texans have access to the products they use on a daily basis.”
From the recent special session, House Bill 36 focused specifically on banning THC products for people under 21. There was even chatter among some lawmakers during last-minute negotiations on Wednesday to advance the proposal, though it eventually died in a House committee without receiving a hearing.
This leaves age restrictions in the hands of retailers.
Hensen said his smoke shop, along with other stores he communicates with regularly, have already restricted access to their stores to people 21 or older since the state increased the age to purchase to***co to 21 in 2019.
Supporters of a ban also cited concerns over quality control of h**p products, something Hensen said his store already prioritizes.
“If you have a bad product on your shelves, customers aren’t going to come back and buy it again,” Hensen said. “There’s no reason to have something that would send someone to the hospital.”
Damage already done
While the h**p industry avoided a catastrophic total ban, the decision by lawmakers to remove THC v**es from the market is expected to negatively affect businesses. Hensen, along with several other smoke shop managers in Austin, estimated the v**es made up about 20% of their sales every month.
“I had a couple people yesterday who came in asking for [THC] v**es,” said Eduard Streltsov, a manager at Dream Planet Smoke Shop in East Austin. “When I told them we didn’t have them anymore, they left without buying anything.”
At the same time, the medical ma*****na expansion made it so dispensaries are now allowed to sell THC v**es, potentially tightening the existing competition between the two cannabis industries.
Along with consumable h**p, the shops sell ni****ne products, glass pipes and bongs. Most shops said a total ban would not force them to completely shut down, but it would likely lead to cutting hours for some employees and layoffs for others.
The uncertainty in the h**p industry has also prevented growth. Austin Smoke & V**e at the start of the year was planning to open a new location and hire more employees, but those plans were paused in the spring as the ban measure made its way through the Legislature.
Medical ma*****na’s impact
The country’s conflicting cannabis laws have pitted two sides of the industry against each other in Texas. Although h**p-derived THC is legal, ma*****na remains federally illegal except with a prescription. Companies in the heavily regulated Texas medical industry, which has pushed for regulation and never heavily opposed a ban on its sister industry, have reported losing customers to the h**p industry.
Texas has had a medical ma*****na program since 2015, and it has been expanded three times since in 2019, 2021 and this year. The program is restrictive, only allowing patients with a narrow set of conditions to get a prescription to purchase ma*****na from a small number of distributors permitted to operate in the state.
Jervonne Singletary, a spokesperson for the Austin medical ma*****na company goodblend, said that while her company believes both the h**p industry and medical ma*****na industry can coexist in Texas, the company was disappointed to not see restrictions passed that put the industries on a more level playing field.
“We want to ensure that what people are taking is safe and effective for the reasons that they're taking it,” Singletary said. “At the end of the day, these are both intoxicating products with very, very few genetic differences, and so they should be treated in some form or fashion in a like manner.”
The Legislature’s uncertainty over h**p-derived THC also impacted the medical ma*****na industry. Singletary’s company fielded calls throughout the spring and summer from patients concerned that the legislative debate would also harm access to medical ma*****na.
The passage of expansion for the medical ma*****na program will still be a boon for the industry, Singletary said, pointing to the law’s removal of restrictions like an arduous requirement that dispensaries not hold their product in stores overnight. But the rollout could take several months, delaying an increase in access for ailing users.
“The uncertainty has been a bit hard to plan in, but I think now we are past that uncertainty that hinders business development, and we can move forward as a company, and the industry can move forward with the legislature that actually supports the program.”
Heather Fazio, director of advocacy for Texas Cannabis Policy Center, said in spite of the intense debates surrounding medical ma*****na and h**p in 2025, Texas is closer than ever to legalizing recreational ma*****na. Fazio’s advocacy group has worked in Texas for a decade to push the creation of the medical ma*****na program, decriminalize ma*****na possession, protect the h**p industry and fully legalize the drug.
“We're headed in the right direction, and we're having meaningful conversations about these policies,” Fazio said. “When we are able to have a seat at the table and have lawmakers at the table, we start to really break down the issue and help to find shared values.”
