Texas THC ban impacts smoke shops, employees as legal battle continues
The legal battle over hemp in Texas continues. A new federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the state's ban on the sale of many hemp-derived THC products, and this ban is already having a major impact on smoke shops across North Texas.
At One Stop Smoke Shop in Dallas, turning customers away has become a new norm as a statewide ban on certain hemp-derived THC products became official on Friday.
Under the new law, retailers can no longer sell products containing delta-8, delta-10, and other intoxicating hemp compounds. Business owners who sell the products could see fines or jail time.
Nawar Al Hakari's family owns One Stop Smoke Shop, along with Lone Star Vape and Smoke in Irving.
"A lot of people don't know about it until it hits," said Al Hakari. "In Irving, we had over 250 people walk in, but over half of them we had to send them away. We're losing like $2,000 a day, then what we usually do, we usually make around $5,000."
Al Hakari said his family moved to Texas from Alabama about a year ago, hoping laws would be a little more lax.
"We're just disappointed. We thought Texas, you know, it's too big of a state to ban it," he said.
Now, a lawsuit has been filed to try and block the new law.
The Texas Hemp Business Council said it's aware of the lawsuit and said its own legal challenge is still pending. In a statement, the organization added, "we anticipate additional litigation and will continue to monitor developments while advocating for Texas Hemp Businesses and Consumers."
The Texas Department of State Health Services said it does not comment on pending litigation. Attorney General Ken Paxton's office did not respond to our request for a comment.
As for Al Hakari, he said if there's no relief soon, their businesses may soon go under.
"Honestly, if it keeps going like this, all I'm hoping for is that, you know, for them to un-ban it or something happens because without the weed, I mean the THCA, there's really no point in even staying open," he said. "It's not as much profits as you need to pay workers, to pay everybody, ya know."
