Texas alcohol and hemp industry stakeholder are asking officials to relax proposed hemp regulation to be more accommodating as the state introduces new regulations that prevent access by youth to intoxicating substances.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission presented draft regulations at a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission public meeting held on Thursday. These rules would be required by businesses in order for them to sell any consumable products containing cannabinoids. While there was general agreement on the ban of sales to those under 21 years old, there were some objections against proposed penalties and definitions.
This meeting was held to get feedback from the stakeholders, as TABC is working to codify the emergency rules issued by the agency last month to respond to an Executive Order of Gov. Abbott. Greg Abbott (R). Emergency policy has already been implemented but will expire in a few months.
Matthew Cherry, senior counsel at TABC, said that the intention was to present these rules during the upcoming November 18 meeting. He added that if they do vote to adopt the rules, a second public hearing will take place and a comment period before the final decision is made.
The proposed rule includes a provision that automatically revokes a license to sell liquor if regulators determine a breach of the “age-gating” policy. Robert Shaffer (Senior Vice President of Total Wine) and other participants in the meeting on Thursday argued it would be “better” to target the punishment at the separate hemp license a business holds, instead of threatening a license that is unrelated to hemp violations.
In general, there were questions about the apparent lack of due process considerations of the proposed penalties—without a clear mechanism by which licensees could contest charges—which one stakeholder said would constitute a violation of the Texas Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Shaffer pointed out that many elderly customers of alcohol are upset when asked to show identification proving their age. Cherry says that all the comments received will be considered by the commission. However, under the current proposal, every business would have to identify each customer purchasing a hemp THC item.
Mark Borda, executive director of the Hemp Business Council, also expressed concerns “about compliance and market impact—specifically the chilling effect or de facto ban, the heavy handed treatment with license revocation.”
One-and-done seems to give consumers pause when it comes to carrying these products. “I don’t think that is what was intended,” said the man.
In its agenda, TABC stated the proposed rules are “being proposed to implement the Governor Abbott directive in Executive Order GA56 prohibiting the sale of edible hemp products to children,” calling them “substantially identical to Emergency Rule (51.1) and Emergency Rule (51.2).
The Department of State Health Services, or DSHS for short, adopted a series of similar emergency regulations last week in order to prohibit the sale of intoxicating products made from hemp to anyone under the age of twenty-one.
Two agencies have issued similar rules because TABC regulates only retailers who sell alcohol such as alcohol stores, convenience stores, and groceries, but does not cover smoke shops or other stores that sell hemp-based products.
The governor, just two days ahead of Thursday’s TABC Meeting, called for the Department of Public Safety in the state to increase enforcement of the laws relating the sale of hemp-based products that cause intoxication, and to enforce the emergency rule prohibiting people under the age of 21 from purchasing marijuana.
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After unsuccessful attempts in the Legislature to ban hemp products with quantifiable amounts of THC, Governor’s Executive Order was released.
Meanwhile this month, the head of the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) pushed back against a GOP senator’s “incorrect assertions” about the state’s regulatory compliance with federal hemp laws. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) chief also said that in the future, the “total THC,” which is used to assess the legality or hemp products could change. This would be a negative development for the industry.
Separately, a recent survey from a GOP pollster affiliated with President Donald Trump found that Texas Democratic and Republican voters are unified in their opposition to the hemp ban proposal.
Brendan Cleak is the photographer.
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