A federal judge in Wyoming rejected an initial challenge to the state’s new restrictions on hemp-derived products brought by would-be sellers of intoxicating goods such as delta-8 THC.
The state’s new rules – which also close a loophole that some hemp merchants have exploited to sell so-called THCA flower – do not violate the Constitution, U.S. District Judge Kelly Rankin ruled on July 19.
And the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill does not preclude states from passing stricter laws of their own, Ranking added in his ruling.
Hemp sellers rejected
The judge was ruling on a June request for a preliminary injunction to block the new law brought by a coterie of Wyoming hemp businesses.
Though the case is still pending in court, Wyoming’s attorney general followed up Rankin’s ruling with a motion to dismiss.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed Senate File 32 into law in March.
The law, which took effect July 1, effectively banned the sale of hemp-derived THC products with more than 0.3% THC by dry weight “when using post-decarboxylation or another similarly reliable testing method,” according to the legislation.
It also banned the addition of “synthetic substances into hemp,” a term understood to mean delta-8 THC and other so-called “novel cannabinoids” derived via a chemical process.
Hemp merchants vowed at the time to sue.
Lawsuit details
A complaint was filed in June against Gordon and other state officials, with 11 plaintiffs – led by the Casper-based Green Room company – seeking to produce and sell hemp products “in Wyoming and across the country.”
They claimed the strict ban violated the 2018 Farm Bill and Constitution’s dormant commerce clause.
Neither argument convinced the judge.
The new hemp ban “is a prohibition on substances the government passed by valid legislation,” Rankin wrote.
“Public interest is best served by denying” the challenge.
The state’s motion to dismiss the case is pending.
