‘Kills the industry’: Texas hemp businesses stunned by ban in government deal
Nationwide restrictions on hemp products — passed as part of the legislation to reopen the federal government — has the Texas hemp industry worried.
Earlier this year Texas businesses seemingly avoided a sweeping ban on consumable hemp products that some warned would devastate the thriving industry. A bill consumable hemp products containing a cannabinoid other than CBD or CBG, which do not produce a high, made it out of the Texas Legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott in favor of a more regulatory approach outlined in an executive order.
But the federal spending bill that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history also includes language that advocates and a North Texas business owner say would effectively shutter the country’s hemp industry.
The industry has flourished in recent years after a federal bill and a similar Texas law cleared the way for the cultivation and sale of hemp. Hemp and marijuana are both cannabis and come from the same plant, but legally marijuana has a delta-9 THC concentration above 0.3% by dry weight. Anything less than that is considered legal hemp.
The definition allows for the sale of products that are legal but can still produce a high. The products — which come in forms like drinks and gummies — have been used recreationally and to help with health issues like pain and sleep troubles.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, authored that 2018 federal bill, but was also a proponent of the new restricting language, according to Axios.
The federal spending legislation redefines hemp in a way that would “effectively shut down the industry as we know it,” said Heather Fazio, the director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center, an advocacy group.
Asad Shalami, an owner of ZAR wellness, which sells THC products, put it this way:
“This bill pretty much kills the industry,” he said.
But the change doesn’t take effect for a year. A lot could happen in that time, said Shalami, who lives in Plano.
“Potential lawsuits and injunctions this to, all the way to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Fazio said the year window gives advocates time to call on Congress to regulate hemp products, rather than banning them outright. Texas is in the process of creating rules in response to Abbott’s executive action, she said.
For now, the status quo continues in Texas, she said.
“Of course, there are questions about how Texas will respond,” Fazio said, soon adding, “We’re kind of in this limbo time, where we have to see where governor Abbott and other state leadership are going to fall on this issue.”
She said Texas’ medical marijuana program, the Texas Compassionate Use Program, isn’t impacted. She did raise concerns about people possibly facing hemp-related criminal penalties, as a result of the federal measure.
In the meantime, Shalami’s plans to expand his business are put on hold. He’d hoped to franchise and potentially open up shop out of state in Florida. ZAR Wellness has around 50 employees and 15 locations in Texas, including in Fort Worth and North Richland Hills, Shalami said.
A virtual ban federally would be “devastating,” he said.
“We don’t care about getting people high or providing that recreational value,” Shalami said. “We care about really improving people’s quality of life.”
He and other hemp industry advocates have stressed potential medicinal effects of the products. Shalami a former Army medic, said it’s something he’s experienced first hand. He expressed support for regulations like age restrictions, which is part of what Abbott called for in a September executive order related to regulating the industry.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Shalami said. “But, we’ll see what happens.”
The Texas Hemp Business Council, which advocates for the state’s hemp-based cannabinoid industry, said the nation’s $28 billion hemp economy will be eliminated, in a Nov. 11 news release after the funding deal passed from the U.S. Senate.
“Hemp is too vital to the American economy and to the livelihoods of millions to be dismantled by rushed, politically driven legislation,” the group said in a statement. “As we proved in Texas, we will continue to pursue every legal and legislative option to overturn these harmful provisions and restore a fair, science-based system that continues to protect minors, ensure product safety and preserves the economic opportunities Congress created in 2018.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has championed banning most hemp-derived products in the state. He and supporters of bans on the products have argued they’re unsafe.
“In the midst of the Federal Government shutdown, the U.S. Senate felt so strongly about the THC issue as to make certain a ban was included,” Patrick said in a Nov. 10 post on X, after the legislation to reopen the government advanced from the U.S. Senate. “The US Senate passed the intoxicating THC ban by an overwhelming bipartisan majority — just like it passed in the Texas Legislature. The THC ban has been a priority for me, and I appreciate Congress addressing this important issue at the national level. I believe this ban will save a generation from getting hooked on dangerous drugs.”
Spokespersons for Abbott and Patrick did not immediately return requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services declined an interview request.
“Since the bill just passed last night, we’ll need time to evaluate it and determine what the implications are for the rulemaking process,” a DSHS spokesperson said in an email.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was among two Senate Republicans who supported an amendment that would have stripped the hemp language. In a post on X, Cruz said the regulation of hemp and marijuana products should be left to the states.
“Reasonable minds can disagree, and a blanket federal prohibition disempowers the voters in each of the fifty States,” Cruz said. “A one-size-fits-all federal standard will undoubtedly create unintended consequences that harm consumers. There is a vital need to protect children by, at a minimum, requiring that purchasers be 21 and prohibiting synthetics and dangerous foreign imports marketed to kids. That’s the approach Governor Abbott has taken in Texas, and I urge other states to follow Texas’s example.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 4:15 PM.
