To guide its advocacy, the Texas Medical Association’s House of Delegates at its annual meeting in April adopted a comprehensive resolution that calls on the association to “advocate for increased safety regulations and enforcement of production, sale, and use of commercially available products containing [THC],” including packaging, marketing, content, and access to these products.
In short, TMA is advocating that the same level of testing and regulation for medical cannabis be applied to commercial products, explains Lindy McGee, MD, former chair of TMA’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Health.
“These products in the popular culture are billed as no big deal. But we’re seeing profound consequences from this,” Dr. McGee said.
Local poison control centers have seen increased calls due to THC ingestion in toddlers, the Houston pediatrician says. Parents are showing up in physicians’ offices under the influence. Some sales vendors are responsible, but “some are not,” Dr. McGee said, meaning clearer warnings and labeling on dose and portions per package are much needed.
Previous attempts at safety regulations failed in two 2025 special legislative sessions. Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order in September that year directing the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to adopt emergency rules governing consumable hemp products in Texas.
Those rules prohibit consumable hemp licensees and retail hemp registrants from selling products to anyone under 21 and require a valid government-issued ID before purchase. They also require product labels to have comprehensive warning statements, and tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable packaging.
As part of the House of Delegates’ resolution, TMA advocates:
- Warning labels must be large, at least one-third to one-half of the container size and must be clearly visible to a purchaser.
- Packaging must include the amount of THC per serving in milligrams and the number of servings per container. Each serving must be packaged separately and distinctly.
- Packaging cannot imply or mislead an individual into thinking the product conveys health, cosmetic, dietary, or nutritional benefit.
- State agencies such as DSHS must be given the authority to evaluate product safety and provide public education to discourage youth consumption.
- A meaningful excise tax on commercially available products, comparable to tobacco products, should fund education or treatment programs.
Making these guidelines permanent in law is necessary in part because even with the emergency rules, Dr. McGee says pediatricians are seeing cognitive issues in young patients, something that can be irreversible with heavy usage.
“When I say this product is not safe, especially in adolescents, I’m talking about a risk of psychosis,” she said.
Emergency department physicians say patients are using these products to self-medicate, but “this isn’t your grandfather’s marijuana,” said Bobby Greenberg, MD, a past member of TMA’s Committee on Behavioral Health.
“The stuff is everywhere. You can get it easy. It’s higher potency and poorly controlled. You really have no idea how much THC you’re getting when a kid grabs a gummy,” the Temple emergency physician said. “The legislature needs to know this is not some quick fix. This is a wide problem, it’s a big problem, it’s pervasive, and what they’ve done is just one step.”
For more information about TMA’s medical advocacy efforts, visit the Physician Advocacy page online.