It's Unconstitutional: Hemp Businesses Sue Wyoming Governor Over Law Banning Delta-8 And Similar Substances

Ten hemp companies and one individual hemp seller are suing the state of Wyoming over a ban on the cannabis-like substance delta-8 THC. They are calling the law, which took effect Monday, unconstitutional and want it blocked.

The lawsuit was filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court against Wyoming Gov.Mark Gordon (R), attorney general Bridget Hill (R), director of agriculture Doug Miyamoto and all of Wyoming’s elected prosecutors.

“We will fight to keep our small businesses open, keep food on the tables of our staff, and keep products coming to the hardworking people [of] Wyoming,” Gillette’s Mountain High Wellness store owners Sarah and Richard McDaniel, who are among the plaintiffs, said in a statement as reported by WyoFile. “The Hemp Community of Wyoming is not backing down until the people of Wyoming have the right to decide what we use for alternative options to big pharma and our small businesses have the right to continue to operate.”

Read Also: Intoxicating Hemp Products Face Regulatory Crackdown Across Multiple States

The Delta-8 Question

What is delta-8 THC and why is it banned?

Delta-8 THC is a chemical component of the cannabis plant. Although delta-8 occurs naturally in very small concentrations, it can produce a mild psychoactive effect in some people similar to delta-9 THC.

New industrial methodologies enable delta-8 THC to be converted from CBD derived from hemp. Products developed as a result of the 2018 federal Farm Bill that legalized hemp are therefore not subject to the same testing requirements as cannabis, creating a legal loophole.

The biggest problem connected to delta-8 THC has mostly to do with the question of safety. It takes a proficient and experienced chemist to ensure the safe conversion of CBD molecules into THC molecules, writes Forbes. Inappropriate or imprecise techniques could potentially result in dangerous impurities in the final product.

This is why many states are banning delta-8 and other synthetic cannabis products.

“(The new law) creates insurmountable confusion around criminal liability and destroys the mere act of processing hemp into consumable products,” reads the lawsuit. “(We) face irreparable harm unless this court enjoins (the law).

Unconstitutional And Too Broad

The plaintiffs also claim that the new ban illegally narrows the federal definition of hemp, impacts interstate transpiration laws, and is too broad.

“For instance, [Senate File 32 – Hemp-limitations on psychoactive substances] bans hemp containing any “synthetic substance,” a term which is overly broad that incorporates “non ‘psychoactive substances’” like CBD that contains no THC,” the filing states. 

The lawsuit lists the following businesses as plaintiffs: Up In Smoke II (Laramie), Capitol Botanicals (Cody), Dr. Chronic’s Concentrates (Casper), Flower Castle Elevated Wellness (Cheyenne), and CinD’s CBD and Vape (Torrington). It also includes the agricultural operation Greybull River Farms.

The new law is “unconstitutional, as it deprived plaintiffs from cultivating, distributing, transporting and selling hemp plants and hemp-derived products that are declared legal under the 2018 Farm Bill,” reads the document. The plaintiffs also say if the law is enacted and individuals who cultivate hemp plants are to be prosecuted they’ll suffer “irreparable harm.”

“An injunction is the proper remedy when challenging the constitutionality of state action.”

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