Federal judge in Arkansas blocks ban on hemp cannabinoids in crucial decision

Given the implications of a recent ruling by a federal judge, industry representatives are wondering: Did a federal judge just legalize aid-derived cannabinoids like delta-8-THC, HHC, THCP and THCa flower? In short, a judge in Arkansas ruled that the 2018 Farm Bill takes legal precedence over a ban on hemp-derived cannabinoids in the state of Arkansas, which could serve as a blueprint for future legal action in other states.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson ruled to block enforcement of Act 629 of 2023, passed in Arkansas in the 2023 legislative session, which prohibits the sale and production of items containing delta-8, delta-9 and delta- Containing 10, THC was banned in the state. The judge found that the hemp product ban was contradictory and arbitrary.

Law 629 was passed in the 2023 regular session of the state General Assembly and aims to ban the production and sale of products containing Delta-8, Delta-9 and Delta-10, as well as other hemp-derived THC Contain isomers. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 629 earlier this year, banning “poorly regulated products” made from hemp.

Currently, hemp sellers in the state are celebrating this as a success. Award-winning attorney Rod Knight believes this could have a significant impact on hemp laws in all states, not just Arkansas.

Four plaintiffs in Arkansas Sue

Four companies — Bio Gen LLC, Drippers Vape Shop LLC, The Cigarette Store LLC and Sky Marketing Corp — filed a lawsuit earlier this month. The companies spoke from different points in the hemp industry chain: a manufacturer, a wholesaler, a distributor and a retailer.

Gov. Huckabee Sanders, Attorney General Tim Griffin, the Department of Finance and Administration, the Tobacco Control Board, the Department of Agriculture, the State Plant Administration and prosecutors for the state’s 28 judicial districts are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Lawyers representing those companies argued that the law was unconstitutional and was preempted by the 2018 farm law. It appears their argument holds up.

“Plaintiffs have been and continue to be harmed by Act 629,” the lawsuit states, according to a report in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “by preventing them from transporting hemp-derived cannabinoid products into and through Arkansas.” Federal law declared legal.”

Senate Bill 358 was passed and signed into law on April 11 as Bill 629. He criminalized all hemp-derived products that are “manufactured through a synthetic chemical process” and “[a]no other psychoactive substance contained therein.”

However, the plaintiffs argue that the law is superseded by the 2018 Farm Bill and that its provisions are unconstitutionally vague and therefore void. The court agreed and issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law.

Abtin Mehdizadegan, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said his clients tried to avoid legal action before the ban took effect.

“Our lawsuit asks the federal court in the Eastern District of Arkansas to ban Act 629 in its entirety because it unconstitutionally limits the definition of hemp-derived products in violation of the 2018 Farm Bill and impermissibly restricts the transportation and shipping of these products .” Mehdizadegan wrote. “Before the bill became law, we had extensive discussions with the defendants during the 2023 legislative session as the bill moved through the legislative process.”

Anticipated by the 2018 Farm Bill

In its ruling, the court came to three specific conclusions: that the law is preempted by federal law according to the principle of “conflict preemption”, that the law is preempted by federal law according to the principle of “express preemption”, and third, that the law is unconstitutional vague and therefore void.

Attorney Rod Knight explained that the court’s first two findings were based on the legal doctrine of preemption. As the court states: “The federal preemption doctrine is derived from the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which states that the laws of the United States made pursuant to the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land.” State laws that interfere with the Constitution or are inconsistent with the laws of Congress, are void or excluded.”

There are different types of preemption rights, and in this case the court found that two were applicable: “conflict preemption” and “express preemption.” Although they are similar in effect, they are based on different premises. The Court’s third finding is based on a separate legal doctrine called “void for indeterminacy” under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.

Last May, Arkansas became the latest state with a legal cannabis industry to regulate or ban intoxicating hemp products, and they have been on the shelves since the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp production nationwide. Arkansas passed the 2018 Farm Bill locally through Industrial Hemp Act 565.

Local news outlet KTHV reports that the case is scheduled to go to trial on August 27, 2024.

Congress will revisit the farm bill this year, and there is a possibility that federal lawmakers could address the unintended rise in hemp-derived cannabinoids, particularly intoxicating cannabinoids.