Short answer
Marijuana is still illegal under federal law except for two narrow categories that moved to Schedule III in April 2026: FDA-approved drug products and marijuana covered by a state medical marijuana license. A broader proposal to move all marijuana to Schedule III is still in the DEA process.
None of that makes anything legal in Texas, because Texas law has its own prohibitions. Separately, Congress rewrote the federal definition of hemp, with changes starting November 12 and December 11, 2026.
Two layers of law
Every Texan lives under two drug laws at once: the federal Controlled Substances Act and the Texas Controlled Substances Act. Something has to be legal under both to be fully legal. States can choose not to punish conduct that federal law still prohibits (that is how legal states work), but federal law does not override a state's own ban. So when federal policy loosens, Texas law does not move unless the Legislature moves it.
Scheduling, briefly
Federal law sorts controlled substances into five schedules (DEA explainer). Schedule I is for substances with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. Schedule III is for substances with lower abuse potential and an accepted medical use, available by prescription. Moving a drug between schedules goes through a rulemaking process run by the Justice Department and DEA, with scientific input from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The April 2026 order
On April 28, 2026, a Justice Department final order published in the Federal Register moved two categories of marijuana to Schedule III (Federal Register):
- marijuana in an FDA-approved drug product, and
- marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license, meaning a license from a state entity to manufacture, distribute or dispense marijuana for medical purposes.
It also created an expedited DEA registration path for state medical licensees. It did not legalize recreational marijuana. Everything outside those two categories stayed in Schedule I. The order followed a December 2025 executive order directing the Attorney General to move quickly on rescheduling (Executive Order 14370).
How this order applies to Texas's low-THC Compassionate Use Program is a question for federal regulators. We have not seen an official federal answer, so we are not going to guess.
Full rescheduling, still pending
The broader proposal, to move all marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, was first published in May 2024 (proposed rule) and went into a formal DEA administrative hearing (the DEA tracks the filings on its rescheduling actions page). As of our last review in late October 2026 that proceeding is still open and no final rule has been published. Rescheduling, if it comes, is still not legalization: Schedule III drugs require a prescription and DEA registration, and state law would still apply.
The federal hemp redefinition
The 2018 farm bill defined hemp as cannabis with no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight. In November 2025, Congress rewrote that definition in Public Law 119-37 (H.R. 5371). As the Congressional Research Service describes it (CRS report), the new definition counts THCA and similar cannabinoids toward the THC limit, excludes cannabinoids the plant cannot produce naturally or that were synthesized outside the plant, and caps finished hemp-derived cannabinoid products at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.
The changes were set to start November 12, 2026. A continuing resolution signed September 2, 2026 (Public Law 119-103) delayed portions until December 11, 2026. Per CRS, the exclusion for cannabinoids the plant cannot naturally produce still starts November 12, and the rest starts December 11. Congress could change these dates again; check the tracker.
We cover hemp only as law. This page is not a guide to any product.
Crossing state lines
Carrying marijuana across a state line is a federal issue and, once it reaches Texas, a state crime. That is true even if you bought it legally in New Mexico or Colorado and even under the April 2026 order, which covers state-licensed medical activity, not travel. Airports and federal property add their own rules.
What it means in Texas
- Recreational possession is still a crime under Texas law, whatever happens to federal scheduling.
- Texas medical patients are governed by the state program's rules on conditions, THC limits and forms.
- Texas hemp rules already go further than the old federal standard (THCA counts, delta-8 is scheduled), and the federal redefinition adds another layer in November and December 2026.
- Federal employment rules, like DOT drug testing for commercial drivers, do not change because a state or the DEA moves.