[PRESS RELEASE] – AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 30, 2026 – A court hearing on a temporary injunction will be held in Travis County District Court in the matter of SS Distro USA, et al., v. Texas Dept. of State Health Services, et al., at 9 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2026, in Austin, Texas. The lawsuit challenges a recent state agency attempt to unilaterally reclassify lawful hemp products as controlled substances and rewrite the legal framework established by the Texas Legislature.
The hearing will be held before Honorable Judge Maria Hexsel in the 53rd Judicial District Court, Civil District Court, in Travis County, at 1700 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX.
“Our goal in this lawsuit is to rein in an overzealous and reckless attempt by the Texas Department of State Health Services to create law and damage Texas businesses,” said David Sergi, the plaintiffs' lawyer.
David K. Sergi of David K. Sergi & Associates filed the lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and Interim Commissioner Imelda Garcia.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Texas hemp businesses, including SS Distro USA LLC, Topps Distro LLC d/b/a KingPin Kush, Jason Moreno d/b/a My City Hemp, Trevor Kocaoglan, IHC Investments Inc., Bluestar Operations LLC, ZAHQ LLC d/b/a Zour Stash, and N&A Ventures d/b/a Botanic Bliss.
The lawsuit (Cause No. D-1-GN-26-007113) asserts that DSHS has engaged in executive overreach by administrative rulemaking, bypassing the Legislature's statutory definition of hemp enacted under House Bill 1325 in 2019. The suit challenges DSHS's newly announced "Post-July Implementation and Enforcement Standard," under which the agency threatens product detentions and criminal law enforcement referrals for products containing more than trace amounts of naturally occurring cannabinoids like THCA, Delta-8 THC and THCP.
