EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) announced on Tuesday two new emergency rules that prohibit TABC-licensed retailers from selling consumable hemp products to people under 21.
In addition to this rule, the commission is also requiring businesses to check a customer’s identification before completing a sale.
“The consumption of consumable hemp products by persons under 21 equals a public health emergency. So, in response to that, TABC is working with the governor’s office as well as with our partner agencies to enforce these emergency rules for the time being,” Chris Porter, director of communications with TABC, said.
According to TABC, emergency rules will be effective for 120 days with an optional 60-day extension. The rules will undergo a rulemaking process, with the rules expected to be proposed at the Commission’s November meeting before formally being adopted in January 2026.
“What we expect to do is begin holding stakeholder meetings and public comment periods in the months leading up to November,” Porter said.
The adoption of the new rules comes after a heated debate during the 89th Texas Legislative Session, where Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick campaigned for the prohibition of hemp-derived products altogether.
Patrick’s efforts fell short after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the bill, issuing an executive order instead to strengthen regulation.
Hemp & Heal, a locally owned shop in northeast El Paso, said the new regulations were good and something they always believed was necessary.
“You want people to have the choice of being able to use whatever products they would like to use for relief. Texas, it’s a free state. I mean, you can use tobacco, you can use alcohol freely. So, we really feel that hemp should be the same way as long as we have lab-tested products in our store, as we’ve had since 2018. We think that it should just be 21 and over, and we push forward, going from there, and let the choice be on the people and not on the government,” Wes Myers, owner of Hemp & Heal, said.
A major argument for the push to ban hemp products was the potential dangers posed to Texas children, something Myers said was largely unfounded.
“When we have alcohol out there and we have tobacco that are very accessible and legal, you know, I don’t see the difference between hemp-derived products and the accessibility to alcohol. I don’t understand their reasoning of trying to push the ban to blame it on where we’re harming the community when, in fact, the community actually gets a lot of relief from these products from what we’ve seen over the past six years,” Myers said.
According to the CDC, hemp-derived products are any part of the cannabis sativa plant that has no more the 0.3 percent of THC, which is the mind-altering substance in cannabis. Hemp can be used for many things, including textiles, food, and personal care products.
“We’re just hoping that all the hemp drug products stay here for the people of Texas, so they have free choice to use as they please,” Myers said.
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