Louisiana’s hemp industry is challenging a new state law that tightens restrictions on hemp-derived products, arguing it conflicts with federal law and could criminalize products that have been legal for for the half a decade now.
According to Law360, the Hemp Association of Louisiana and Cypress Hemp LLC filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Gov. Jeff Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III over Act 752, which took effect in June.
The law redefines “industrial hemp” for consumable products based on total THC content rather than just delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. The lawsuit claims the change effectively recriminalizes many hemp-derived products that were legal under both state and federal law.
“The existing hemp-derived cannabinoid market that farmers, small business owners, and consumers have built and relied upon over the last five years would be eliminated under Act 752,” the complaint says. It argues the law “impermissibly narrows the definition of hemp to recriminalize the possession, manufacturing, transportation, and shipment of certain popular hemp-derived cannabinoid products.”
The plaintiffs argue the law violates the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which legalized hemp nationwide, defining it as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis.
The lawsuit seeks to have Act 752 declared unconstitutional, claiming it violates the Supremacy Clause, the Commerce Clause, and due process rights. It also argues the law is unconstitutionally vague, creating an “unreconcilable rift” within the state’s industrial hemp statutory scheme.
“Act 752 fails to give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice as to which products are forbidden to possess, sell, or both,” the complaint argues.
They’ve requested a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against enforcement.
The lawsuit marks the latest challenge to state restrictions on hemp-derived products. In June, a federal judge blocked enforcement of South Dakota’s ban on smokable hemp products, finding it likely violated the 2018 Farm Bill’s protections for interstate commerce in hemp. California hemp interests haven’t had the same luck, however.
The lawsuit warns that enforcing Act 752 could lead to “thousands of lost jobs around the state and turn farmers, business owners, and consumers into criminals overnight, despite no change in federal law.”
The lawsuit argues Louisiana’s law goes too far by redefining industrial hemp based on total THC content rather than just delta-9 THC. Read More