Texas Hemp, Vape and Smoke Shop Business Defense
You built a legal business under rules the State handed you. You registered your locations, you kept certificates of analysis on file, you carded everyone at the counter. On July 31, a large share of your inventory became contraband.
Now you are holding three problems at once: your criminal exposure, your consumable hemp registration, and whether you can make rent next month. Call (817) 335-0200 before you talk to an investigator, and before you move, sell or destroy any inventory.
What a hemp business is actually exposed to
| Exposure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Criminal charges | Manufacture or delivery of a Penalty Group 2 controlled substance. Delivery offenses carry substantially higher punishment ranges than possession. |
| Administrative fines | Up to $10,000 per violation under the consumable hemp program. |
| Registration | Loss of the DSHS consumable hemp retailer registration. |
| Inventory | Seizure, and asset forfeiture proceedings in some cases. |
| Personal exposure | Owners, managers and employees can be charged individually. The entity is not a shield. |
The first 48 hours after a raid or inspection
-
Say nothing beyond identifying yourself. Everything else goes through counsel. Investigators are trained, friendly, and building a case.
-
Do not move, sell, discard or transport any product. Doing so can create new charges on top of the ones you already have.
-
Preserve every certificate of analysis, invoice, supplier agreement and vendor communication. Back it all up off-site today.
-
Get a written inventory of exactly what was seized, and photograph everything you still have.
-
Tell your staff in writing to direct all inquiries to counsel. One employee talking casually can cost more than the inventory.
-
Call a lawyer before you call your supplier.
How we defend these cases
The chemistry scales in your favor. The same laboratory and quantitation issues that win individual possession cases apply across an entire seized inventory, SKU by SKU. Where the State has not tested a product line, it has not proven a product line.
Manufactured versus naturally occurring. This distinction is fought product by product. A compliant delta-9 item with naturally occurring trace cannabinoids is a different legal question from a chemically converted product, and your certificates of analysis are the evidence.
Search and seizure at the premises. Warrant scope, the basis for an administrative inspection, and whether an inspection turned into a criminal search without the protections that requires. These are live issues in commercial cases.
Mental state. You held a state registration, sold labeled products with lab documentation, and operated openly. That record speaks to whether you knowingly delivered a controlled substance.
The rule itself. No statute banned these compounds. Senate Bill 3 was vetoed in June 2025 and no replacement passed. The current restrictions come from an agency rule that has been litigated repeatedly through 2026, and that litigation is ongoing.