LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska’s hemp industry is sprawling and a major aspect of it is the sale of Delta-8, which is now in the crosshairs of the Attorney General Mike Hilgers. He said he’s within his rights and the law to shut it down, but opponents said he’s way out of bounds.

It’s almost impossible to miss them: the countless stores slinging all sorts of THC products: gummies, chocolates, pre-rolls. And they’re all pretty new to Nebraska.

“In 2018 with the passage of the Farm Bill at the federal level, essentially that created hemp products, they carved out an exception for their legality so long as the hemp plant itself doesn’t weigh more than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis,” John Cartier, a lawyer for the Nebraska Healthy Alternatives Association, said.

Hilgers launched a campaign against the substance known as Delta-8 last year.

“No one buying these products understand what it is that they are getting,” Hilgers said in October 2023.

Since then, his efforts have only escalated.

“If there are retailers at this point, they are fully aware and have full notice that the state of Nebraska and this office believes that what they’re doing is illegal,” Hilgers said. “And it’s harming kids and it’s harming others in their communities.”

Hilgers said LB 999, a bill put forth in this year’s regular legislative session, would’ve clarified that reality—that Delta-8 is illegal—but it stalled in committee.

Cartier said Hilgers wouldn’t have needed that bill if Delta-8 was truly illegal.

“It boils down to that under Nebraska law and statutes, Hilgers cannot point to where it says that hemp and hemp products are outlawed,” Cartier said.

And as the the Nebraska state government pinches penny, hunting for property tax relief, hemp industry advocates say state leaders should be looking to taxation, not prohibition. They point to the hemp’s positive economic impact in the state. Overtime, they said, it’s created more than 15,000 jobs, paid out more than $60 million in wages and generated $8 million in sales taxes.

Cartier said the industry is willing to find common ground in higher taxation, but as Hilgers scores settlements with some THC retailers, he said the window is closing for Delta-8 sellers to come to the table.

“We are currently working on additional lawsuits that will be filed this year,” Hilgers said. “And we’re going to continue this campaign to be able to get this back to where it was, which is these products not being sold, not being put in the hands of Nebraskans.”

Cartier said he’s prepared to defend access to Delta-8.

“We view it as an absolute necessity to stand up for their rights to have access to these products that give them a higher quality of life,” Cartier said.

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