Court order allows Maryland stores to resume selling intoxicating hemp products

A Maryland judge has temporarily suspended portions of the state’s marijuana legalization law that bans the sale of hemp-derived products containing intoxicating cannabinoids. The judge’s order allows hemp and CBD stores to resume selling the products while a legal battle against the state’s cannabis legalization law continues.

The lawsuit was filed in July by a group of business owners and the Maryland Hemp Coalition challenging provisions of the state’s marijuana legalization law that allow only businesses approved by state cannabis regulators to sell products containing THC. The law also restricts the sale of other hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoids, including delta-8-THC and delta-10-THC, which have been sold by hemp companies for years since hemp was legalized in Maryland with the 2018 Farm Bill.

The named defendants in the case are state Governor Wes Moore, the Maryland Cannabis Administration and the Maryland Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission. The defendants’ attorneys filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, but were unsuccessful.

The plaintiffs argue in the lawsuit that the law unfairly requires them to either obtain a cannabis business license subject to licensing requirements, stop selling products they have been selling for years, or close their business. The plaintiffs claim the law violates the equal protection and anti-monopoly clauses of the Maryland Constitution by excluding them from the state’s regulated cannabis market.

The judge’s order allows sales to resume

In an order issued Thursday, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brett R. Wilson said the restrictions on intoxicating hemp products would cause “irreparable harm” to plaintiffs, some of whom are closing stores that sell hemp-derived cannabinoid products had to. Wilson said his order was “not contrary to the public interest.”

The order allows the plaintiffs to temporarily resume sales of products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids while the litigation continues. After Wilson issued the order, state officials said it would harm efforts to make THC-containing products, including hemp-derived THC, safe for consumers.

“The administration was disappointed to learn of the Washington County Circuit Court’s preliminary ruling allowing the continued sale of unregulated, untested and intoxicating hemp products,” said William Tilburg, the director of the Maryland Cannabis Administration, in a statement from the agency .

Leading representatives of the state parliament also expressed dissatisfaction with the judge’s order and predicted that the lawsuit would not be successful.

“We are disappointed with the Washington County Circuit Court’s initial order regarding Maryland’s landmark adult-use recreational cannabis legislation,” House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson said in a joint statement. “We remain confident that the law is legal.”

Plaintiffs welcome court decision

The judge’s order was welcomed by plaintiffs, including business owners who had temporarily closed their businesses to comply with Maryland’s legalization of cannabis.

“We’re happy to be back in business for now,” said Nevin Young, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

“This is really about the state seeking sole control of the market for all THC products through a very limited number of retailers,” he added.

Young said the plaintiffs presented evidence in court that the products they sold posed no risk to consumers, a claim often made by state cannabis regulators.

“They brought to the hearing products that have been tested in independent laboratories and actually exceed the standards that the state of Maryland requires for products sold in the state,” he said.

“They were essentially excluded. Not because their products are dangerous, but because their products are undesirable,” Young added.

Nicholas Patrick, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said he had to close his three Embrace Wellness Centers because of the restrictions. Together, the three stores formed the heart of a business that generated more than $1.5 million per year and employed several people.

“I was inches away from bankruptcy,” Patrick told The Washington Post on Thursday before a coalition of plaintiffs met to discuss their next steps. “Hopefully I can get my business up and running and take care of my family.”

Patrick said his company’s sales fell 74% after Maryland’s cannabis legalization law went into effect. He eventually managed to convert one of his locations into a smokehouse, but had to permanently close the other two retail operations and was forced to lay off four employees.

“The human cost was the worst cost for me,” Patrick said. “We had to let her go and it broke my heart into a million pieces. … I don’t even have the financial resources to reopen it. I don’t have any money anymore.”