Delta-8 businesses sue Wyoming

RIVERTON (WNE) — A slew of businesses dealing in hemp have filed suit in federal court, objecting to a new Wyoming law that went into effect on Monday.

The law bans the sale of hemp derived delta-8, a substance found in marijuana that a loophole in the 2018 federal Farm Bill made legal.

The lawsuit argues that Wyoming’s new law violates the Farm Bill and asks the court for an injunction that would put the brakes on the ban while the lawsuit moves through the courts.

While marijuana is illegal in many parts of the country, the 2018 Farm Bill created provisions for the growing of hemp. As long as the plants don’t contain high concentrations of delta-9 THC, the stronger, intoxicating cousin of delta-8, they are legal to grow.

Since that time, growers have cultivated hemp plants that fall under that delta-9 threshold, but contain high levels of delta-8 THC, which can give users a milder, marijuana-like high.

Delta-8 products are sold as smokable plants and liquids for vaping, as well as in gummy and candy forms.

Senate File 32 – Hemp limitations on psychoactive substances – aims to outlaw delta-8, but the lawsuit claims it violates the Farm Bill, interferes with interstate commerce and is overly broad.

The statute would technically also ban CBD. CBD is another hemp-derived product often used in balms and lotions.

Businesses across the state have flourished by growing, creating and selling these products, the suit says.

“This would lead to thousands of lost jobs around the state and turn farmers, business owners, and consumers – including plaintiffs – into criminals overnight,” it reads.

The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of a handful of hemp retailers and an agricultural organization, was filed on Friday against the state of Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon, the attorney general, Wyoming Department of Agriculture director, 21 county attorneys and prosecutors and two district attorneys.

This story was published on July 3, 2024.