Adding to a current lawsuit against the state, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and other advocates have petitioned a state superior court judge for a temporary restraining order.
The petition, filed Oct. 3, seeks to prevent the enforcement of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on THC-enhanced hemp sold in stores or through delivery services.
Hemp Roundtable, a trade group, filed suit Sept. 24 against the governor’s Sept. 6 emergency order.
A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 10.
“We are hopeful that the court will temporarily block — and then ultimately, permanently enjoin — Gov. Newsom’s misguided efforts to devastate hemp farmers, business and product consumers in California,” Roundtable General Counsel Jonathan Miller said in a statement. “It’s high time that the governor abandon this punitive effort and sit down with all stakeholders to appropriately address his stated mission.”
The state is trying to curb the sale of hemp-derived products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids such as THC, the psychoactive compound that provides users with a “high.”
Newsom, working through the state’s Department of Health, sought the emergency regulations to provide some sort of accountability when it came to the selling of THC-enhanced hemp products to children.
The emergency regulations are intended to pause sales of THC-laced hemp in stores or other retailers until legislation offers a long-term solution. The rules, which went into effect Sept. 23, also impose an age restriction on anyone under 21 buying hemp food products.
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