A federal judge left Texas's Schedule I reclassification of hemp-derived THC products in place and a separate rule challenge stayed stalled on appeal, while Kentucky farmers and Cornbread Hemp quantified the federal hemp deadline's toll on the state.
GULF & INTERIOR SOUTH, Aug. 13, 2026: A federal judge in Galveston denied hemp businesses' emergency bid to block Texas's ban on most intoxicating hemp products, ruling Aug. 9 that the plaintiffs had not shown they would suffer irreparable harm before their broader case is heard.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown's denial of the temporary restraining order leaves in place the state's July 31 reclassification of delta-8, delta-10, THCP and THCA flower as Schedule I substances, a change that took effect after the Texas Supreme Court lifted a five-year injunction in May. Three hemp industry members, two retailers and a distributor, sued the Texas Department of State Health Services, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Galveston County's district attorney and sheriff in early August, arguing the reclassification violates the 2018 Farm Bill's hemp protections and unconstitutionally burdens interstate commerce. Andrea Steel, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said the TRO denial "does not decide our case" and that a request for a preliminary injunction, which allows fuller briefing and an evidentiary hearing, remains pending. Delta-9 THC products under 0.3% by dry weight remain legal in Texas.
A second, separate Texas case also moved this week. The Texas Hemp Business Council's challenge to a DSHS rule that counts THCA as 88% delta-9 THC equivalent for testing and fee purposes was set for trial July 27, but the trial did not proceed because the state's appeal of a prior injunction is still pending before the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. That means the injunction is not currently in effect, and the total-THC standard is confirmed active and enforceable, resolving uncertainty in earlier coverage about which rules applied. THBC's next filing in that case is due Aug. 14. Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, has said he will file another bill to ban consumable hemp products when the Legislature convenes in January 2027.
In Kentucky, Sen. Rand Paul said the Senate's one-month extension of the federal hemp restrictions deadline, to Dec. 11, is "good" but insufficient, and argued Congress should let states with existing regulatory frameworks, including Kentucky's, supersede federal rules. Sen. Mitch McConnell's office said the senator remains "firmly opposed" to any delay. Louisville-based Cornbread Hemp co-founder Jim Higdon said essentially all of the company's products, and about 97% of Kentucky-made hemp products broadly, would become illegal if the federal restrictions take effect as written. North-central Kentucky farmer Abram Phillips said he and his father have roughly 2 million pounds of unsold 2025 hemp on hand after prices dropped below break-even, though they planted again this year.
Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma saw no new hemp-beverage legislation, rulemaking or enforcement action this week; each state's existing framework, ranging from Oklahoma's 0.3% total-THC standard with no beverage-specific cap to Arkansas's near-total ban under Act 629 and a roughly 1mg-per-container limit, remained unchanged.
Texas's Fifteenth Court of Appeals filing deadline in the THBC case falls Aug. 14. The federal spending bill carrying the hemp deadline extension returns to the House for a vote after Congress reconvenes in September, with Kentucky Reps. James Comer and Andy Barr among those pushing competing frameworks to preserve the industry long-term.
Forma works embedded on hemp and THC beverage formulation and commercial scale-up, from compliant dosing and label claims through co-packer qualification. This wire is a byproduct of the same regulatory tracking that informs that work.
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