The Brief
- Texas hemp retailer Boomtown Vapor LLC has filed a lawsuit to block new state regulations set to take effect March 31, 2026.
- The rules would ban many currently legal products by adopting a “Total THC” standard and imposing a new $5,000 annual retail registration fee.
- A judge has yet to rule on the requested restraining order, which business owners say is needed to prevent immediate closures and industry-wide layoffs.
A Texas-based hemp retailer has filed a lawsuit in Travis County to block new state regulations scheduled to take effect March 31, 2026, that would effectively ban many currently legal hemp products.
Boomtown Vapor files lawsuit
The legal challenge, filed March 17 by Boomtown Vapor LLC, targets the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and its commissioner, Dr. Jennifer Shuford. The lawsuit alleges the agency is overstepping its authority by unilaterally redefining the legal standard for hemp.
At the center of the dispute is a shift from a “Delta-9 THC” standard to a “Total THC” standard. Under current Texas law established by House Bill 1325 in 2019, hemp is defined as having a Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of no more than 0.3%. The new DSHS rules would combine Delta-9 and THCA to meet that 0.3% threshold, a move the plaintiff argues would render nearly all its inventory illegal for sale overnight.
The lawsuit also challenges a new $5,000 annual retail registration fee, calling it a “prohibitive tax” designed to destroy the industry rather than a reasonable regulatory fee.…