After three legislative sessions failed to produce a compromise, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is moving on his own to regulate hemp-derived THC products in the state.

Abbott issued an executive order Wednesday morning that bans the sale of hemp products to people under 21. The order also mandates that retailers verify their customers' government-issued IDs, and state agencies coordinate and increase enforcement across the state.

Abbott is also directing the state Department of Health Services to review its rules around hemp products, including "including strengthening testing and labeling requirements to ensure informed consumers, increasing licensing fees to facilitate enforcement, and improving recordkeeping to assist agency oversight."

"While these products would still benefit from the kind of comprehensive regulation set by the Texas Legislature for substances like alcohol and tobacco, my executive order makes sure that kids are kept safe and parents have peace of mind now, and that consumers know the products they purchase are tested and labeled responsibly," Abbott said in a statement.

Why some THC is legal in Texas

The federal and Texas governments legalized hemp in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with agricultural uses in mind. The laws differentiated hemp from illegal forms of cannabis by defining it as having 0.3% "delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol" or less. 

Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, is the psychoactive substance found in marijuana.

The laws did not explicitly cap other forms of THC, like delta-8 and delta-10, which aren't naturally found in large quantities but have similar psychoactive effects to delta-9. 

That created a loophole in the law, which led to a booming industry in Texas manufacturing and selling products containing forms of THC that are not banned,

Texas Legislature's push to ban THC 

The debate over THC was one of the most high-profile issues in the Texas Legislature's regular session.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is also president of the state Senate, led the push in the Legislature for an outright ban on all forms of THC. 

After the bill passed both chambers of the Legislature, opponents waged an intense push for Abbott to veto the bill. Opponents argued that if the bill became law, it would force thousands of people out of their jobs and cause billions of dollars in economic losses for the state. They also argued it would harm veterans and others who use THC instead of opioids to treat chronic pain, forcing them to buy from drug dealers to get the same relief.  

Abbott, who did not publicly take a position on the legislation during the session, issued a veto just before the deadline. He said would call a special session and push lawmakers to pass a bill that would ban the sale of THC to people under 21 and impose more regulations on the industry.

Special sessions did not produce a compromise

In the first special session, the Texas Senate passed Patrick's favored bill for an outright ban on THC, but the House did not take up their version of the bill after Democrats broke quorum and killed the session.

The second special session also ended without a bill.The Senate passed its THC ban for a third time, but the bill never received a hearing in a House committee.

State leaders again could not come to a compromise, so the second special session gaveled to a close without any progress on THC.