BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A statewide ban on smokable hemp and THC products taking effect March 31 has local smoke shop owners worried the repercussions could shut them down. After changes in state law in September, the Texas Department of State Health Services adopted a new rule that will have smoke shop owners taking THC flower and rolls off of the shelves to be in compliance.
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Tom Munson and his wife are the owners of TNT Up In Smoke in Belton, which just opened its doors in January. Now, he said they, like many other smoke shops, are worried about how long they will remain open.
"It’s going to drastically hurt us, it really is. We are going to lose a good 70 percent of our business because a lot of people do smokable, they use smokables," Munson said.
"We saw the national law the hemp regulations but we had until November 2026 before we knew if it was going to change or wasn’t going to change. This new law it came out at the very beginning of March and hit us like a brick wall. It was just so unexpected, like wow what are we going to do now," Munson said.
The changes tightening rules on hemp products are a push to protect children. But Malcolm Felmly at Lightening Smoke Shop in Killeen told 25 News he is afraid it may lead neighbors to illegal means.
"If this was about safety, we would have gotten rid of tobacco products along. Be more stringent when it comes to alcohol. The fact of the matter is, all those regulations can be applied to hemp and can be considered a safe industry, but for some reason we keep spreading misinformation that is more dangerous," Felmly said.
Felmly hopes a better solution can happen before the ban takes away products some neighbors find useful.
"So many of our clients are elderly or veterans just trying to find a better way to deal with PTSD, chronic pain, or anxiety. So not only is removing this product cutting into our profits, but it's also making sure that our consumers, the community of Killeen, just won't have access to the things that they've had," Felmly said.
The Munsons are working to empty out their inventory of hemp products before the March 31 deadline. They said it is at least $5,000 worth of product.
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