The battle over legal hemp is continuing across the country as the conflict over intoxicating products heats up between legislators and hemp companies. Lawmakers are concerned that unregulated products are sold with mostly no age restrictions allowing minors to buy products with advertised THC levels. States have been attempting to implement regulations around these products with varying degrees of success. Hemp companies have chosen to fight back by suing states where some regulations have passed.
Ohio
Crain’s Cleveland reported that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been asking lawmakers to regulate or ban delta-8 THC products, so State Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, introduced a bill that would have prohibited the sale of intoxicating hemp products.
According to Crain, the bill had four hearings in the Senate General Government Committee, but never went up for a vote.
“I’m certainly very disappointed if that’s the outcome,” DeWine told reporters before the General Assembly ended when asked about S.B. 326 likely not passing.
DeWine was optimistic something would happen during the lame-duck session, but that wasn’t the case.
“I’m fine to ban it, but if they want to put it through the mechanism that we have and the process that we have with a sale for marijuana, I’m fine with that as well,” DeWine said. “It needs to be done. You have kids that can buy this junk now.”
Illinois
The Illinois proposed legislation is titled HB 4293, which would place intoxicating hemp products under the same regulations as adult-use cannabis. Adding confusion to the legislative process, this bill was originally called the Massage Licensing Act in the Illinois House and proposed addressing massage therapist misconduct. The Illinois Senate didn’t pass the Massage Bill and instead completely removed that language and replaced it with the Hemp Consumer Products Act. It was passed in May 2024 and went back to the House. The House hasn’t acted on it yet, but new co-sponsors were added to the law last week.
The Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association (ILHAA) said in a statement that it commends Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators for wanting to protect children and consumers, but cautioned that the current proposed legislation falls short and jeopardizes farmers and small businesses. ILHAA would prefer legislation including prohibiting purchases of intoxicating hemp for anyone under 21, and eliminating look-alike products through standardized labeling and independent testing.
ILHAA claimed that the bill would effectively ban CBD and hemp products that are federally legal. The group also believes it would wipe out thousands of jobs and criminalize CBD products and reduce consumer access to wellness products.
Wyoming
A group of hemp companies in Wyoming is pushing ahead despite seeing their lower court case dismissed. The state is one of the few that has not legalized any type of medical marijuana.
State Enrolled Act (SEA) 24 prohibited “the addition of synthetic substances or other additives to hemp.” It also changed the state’s definition of “hemp” to exclude any synthetic substance, which is also defined under the law as “any synthetic THC, synthetic cannabinoid or any other drug or psychoactive substance” to address delta-8 products.
Green Market Report wrote that U.S. District Judge Kelly H. Rankin rejected arguments from hemp businesses in their initial lawsuit that claimed SEA 24 conflicted with federal law and would cause irreparable harm. The law took effect July 1.
In his order, Rankin wrote that the 2018 Farm Bill does not create a right to produce or sell hemp products, but rather allows states to impose stricter rules. “Federal statutes are replete with definitions,” Rankin wrote. “It is farfetched to assume every definition confers a right to a person without some other affirmative congressional expression of intent to confer that right.”
The group led by Green Room LLC filed a new brief last week with the Tenth Court of Appeals arguing that the state hadn’t shown any evidence regarding harm to the state. They stated again that the policy amounts to an unlawful infringement of private property rights and is unconstitutionally vague.
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