Licensing fees for CBD oil dispensaries could soar in Texas

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Licensing fees would surge – to $1.3 million from $6,000 – for Texas CBD oil dispensaries under a proposal being considered by the state’s Department of Public Safety, sparking industry concerns that such a move would deliver a crippling blow to businesses.

Regulators also have proposed other changes that would drive up the industry’s costs and perhaps limit the number of CBD oil dispensaries that can operate in the state, according to Crain’s San Antonio.

The state had announced earlier it would issue licenses in June 2017 for $6,000 for businesses to grow, process and dispense non-psychoactive cannabis. Use would be limited to patients with intractable epilepsy.

But on Oct. 13 the Public Safety Commission, which oversees the Department of Public Safety, proposed raising the initial license fee to $1.3 million. The new regulations are set to be published in the Oct. 28 issue of the Texas Public Register.

According to Crain’s San Antonio, regulators also are weighing the following proposed changes:

  • The biennial fee to renew a dispensary license would jump to $975,000 from $6,000.
  • The application fee for each employee registered to work in a dispensary would total $4,820, while the biennial renewal fee would total $2,875; both are up from the previously proposed $150.
  • The new regulations would allow the state to decide whether any particular applicant is “necessary,” a move that could sharply limit the number of dispensaries.

Several industry watchers have decried the proposed fee hike, saying it would make it extremely difficult for smaller companies to get into the medical marijuana business in Texas.

Industry advocates have until Nov. 28 to comment on the proposed rules.