A vape user blows out a puff of smoke.
Under Senate Bill 2024, it is now a class A misdemeanor to market or sell any vape device containing psychoactive cannabinoids, including Delta 9, in Texas. Credit: Shutterstock.com

Although Texas’s total THC ban championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has stalled in the state House, a separate vape ban that went largely under the radar last legislative session quietly went into effect Monday.

Under Senate Bill 2024, it’s now a class A misdemeanor in the Lone Star State to market or sell any vape device containing psychoactive cannabinoids, including delta-8 and others derived from hemp. The penalty for doing so also carries a fine of up to $4,000.

Even so, the law doesn’t explicitly ban individual possession of pens and other vaping devices.‹

Although marijuana is illegal in Texas, hemp-derived vapes such as the ones covered under SB 2024 became legal under the 2019 Farm Bill, which allowed rage sale of hemp products containing less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. THC is the compound in cannabis that gets people high.

Advocates for the state’s vape ban argue the devices were being marketed and sold to teens.

Those opposing the bill maintain the devices are useful for adults, including those with PTSD, cancer and chronic pain. Many of those users otherwise may not be able to access cannabinoids in Texas, while others complain the state’s existing medical cannabis law — one of the most restrictive in the nation — is too burdensome and expensive.

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This article appears in Aug 21 – Sep 2, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...