A Travis County district court on May 1, 2026, temporarily blocked the Texas Department of State Health Services from enforcing new hemp regulations that redefined how THC potency is calculated and sharply increased industry licensing fees [1]. Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle granted the temporary injunction following a challenge brought by the Texas Hemp Business Council and Hemp Industry and Farmers of America, two trade groups representing hemp producers and retailers across the state [1].
The contested rules would have required that THCA, the acidic precursor to Delta-9 THC, be counted toward the legal THC threshold when measuring hemp product potency [1]. Federal law and Texas statute define hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight, a standard that has historically excluded THCA from the calculation because it converts to Delta-9 only through heat. By collapsing that distinction, the DSHS rules would have rendered a broad category of commercially available smokable hemp products noncompliant with state law. The regulations also imposed licensing fee increases that industry plaintiffs characterized as rising by as much as 4,000% over prior levels [1].
The plaintiffs argued the regulations exceeded the agency's statutory authority and amounted to an administrative ban on lawfully operating hemp businesses without legislative action. To obtain a temporary injunction under Texas procedure, a movant must demonstrate a probable right to recover on the merits, a probable and imminent injury in the interim, and that the balance of harms favors restraint. Judge Lyttle's ruling indicates the court found those elements satisfied, at least at this preliminary stage [1]. The injunction remains in effect while litigation proceeds.
Trial is scheduled for July 27, 2026 [1]. At that hearing, the court will assess whether the DSHS acted within its delegated rulemaking authority and whether the fee structure satisfies administrative law requirements. A final merits ruling could either invalidate the regulations permanently or permit DSHS to reimpose them, potentially with modifications. The outcome carries implications beyond Texas: at least a dozen states have adopted or are considering similar THCA-inclusive potency calculations, and a Texas ruling on the statutory limits of agency rulemaking in this context could influence parallel disputes elsewhere.