'We won again': Texas Supreme Court leaves Delta-8 legal for now, but the fight's not over

In the latest attempt to get THC isomer products like delta-8 out of stores, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) asked the Texas Supreme Court to step in. The state health agency and Austin hemp manufacturer Hometown Hero CBD have been duking it out in court over the legal status of THC isomers in Texas for the last few months. DSHS filed a motion with the Texas Supreme Court to have a ban on the products reinstated, but that request was denied on Friday. An injunction on the ban is still in effect, meaning THC isomer products are still legal for sale, transport and possession in the state. Lukas Gilkey, founder and CEO of Hometown Hero, has posted regular updates on YouTube about the ban since he and others filed suit against the state earlier this year.

“We won again,” Gilkey said in a video Friday. “This is a huge win for Texas businesses, Texas veterans and Texans looking for medicinal relief from products they can easily acquire.” DSHS didn't respond to the Observer's request for comment. The recent Texas Supreme Court ruling sends the case back to the court of appeals, where it could take between six months and a year to resolve. This most recent legal battle regarding delta-8 began in mid-October when DSHS added a notice to its website saying THC isomers in any concentration were considered Schedule 1 controlled substances. This contradicted what consumers, retailers and manufacturers thought was legal under federal and state hemp laws. The 2018 federal Farm Bill, as well as Texas House Bill 1325 in 2019, legalized the growing of hemp that contains less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. Isomers are chemicals that share the same formula but have different chemical structures and effects. Delta-9 is the naturally occurring chemical that gets cannabis users high; it's isomers appear in lesser amounts in the plant and are frequently created synthetically by manufacturers.