Abilene, TX Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Texas has not legalized recreational or general medical marijuana sales, so there is no dispensary use for Abilene to zone in the first place. Tex. Health & Safety Code Sec. 121(a) makes it an offense to knowingly or intentionally possess a usable quantity of marihuana, a term Sec. "whether growing or not," its seeds, and derivatives, but excludes mature stalks, sterilized seeds, and hemp as defined by Agriculture Code Sec. 001. Subsection (b) grades possession by weight: two ounces or less is a Class B misdemeanor, up to four ounces a Class A misdemeanor, up to five pounds a state jail felony, up to 50 pounds a third-degree felony, up to 2,000 pounds a second-degree felony, and anything above that a first-degree felony punishable by life or 5 to 99 years and a fine up to $50,000.

Selling or handing marihuana to a customer, the core function of a dispensary, is graded separately under Sec. 120 from a Class B misdemeanor for a free quarter-ounce up to the same first-degree felony tier above 2,000 pounds. Because both stocking inventory and delivering it to a buyer are crimes under state law, there is no business model for the Abilene Planning & Development Services Department to zone, license, or tax. The city's Land Development Code use tables list no "dispensary," "cannabis retailer," or "marijuana club" entry in any zoning district, so a certificate-of-occupancy application for one is denied outright rather than routed through a conditional-use hearing.

Texas's narrow Compassionate Use Program, Health & Safety Code Chapter 487, lets the Department of Public Safety license a handful of low-THC dispensing organizations statewide, but none is licensed in Abilene, Taylor County, or Jones County, and that licensing is a state function entirely separate from municipal zoning authority.