Hemp ban fights pile up ahead of the federal deadline

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What happened: Hemp operators are finding some breathing room in the states, even as the federal ban closes in.

Illinois won’t enforce its new hemp law against members of the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association until at least Nov. 19 while the trade group’s Commerce Clause lawsuit proceeds.

In Texas, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals canceled its Dec. 8 argument in a challenge to the state’s smokable THC rules after all three justices lost their seats, leaving the case to their replacements.

The politics there are shifting too, with Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin saying the Department of State Health Services should unwind its hemp rules because the agency changed the law without the authority to do so.

Illinois leaders are pushing the other way in Washington, with a federal agenda released by Gov. JB Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth urging Congress to let the federal ban take effect without further delay.

What they’re saying: “Let the ban take effect, and do not further regulate or legalize intoxicating hemp,” the agenda reads.

Why it matters: None of that state-level relief touches the federal ban, which limits legal hemp products to 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.

What’s next: The Illinois law takes effect Nov. 12, and the enforcement pause for association members runs through at least Nov. 19.

Synthetic cannabinoids face the federal ban Nov. 12, and most other hemp products follow Dec. 11.

-JB

“I think THC was one of the many things that helped people make up their minds that Republicans in the state don’t care about them and that they should vote in a different way than they have been voting,” Texas Majority PAC Executive Director Katherine Fischer said on why Republicans lost the state. 

UCLA researchers found that men who use cannabis frequently tended to have the highest blood THC levels but felt fewer effects than occasional male consumers, in a study published in Neuropsychopharmacology. Occasional male consumers also reacted more strongly than women with similar habits, which cuts against earlier research suggesting women are more sensitive to cannabis.

Illinois won’t enforce its new hemp law against members of the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association until at least Nov. 19 while the group’s lawsuit proceeds. The trade group and several hemp businesses sued last week, arguing the law violates the Commerce Clause by shutting out-of-state hemp companies out of Illinois.

A federal judge ruled Friday that University of Colorado regents have absolute legislative immunity, which bars regent and dispensary owner Wanda James’s First Amendment and race discrimination claims. The board censured James after she called a CU “Tea on THC” campaign racist. The court never weighed whether the censure was retaliation.

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