On October 30, 2023, in Northern Virginia Hemp
and Agriculture LLC, et al., v. The Commonwealth of Virginia,
the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
refused to enjoin a Virginia statute, SB 903, aimed at curbing
the production and distribution of products containing intoxicating
chemical compounds derived from federally lawful hemp (“Hemp
Synthesized Intoxicants” or “HSIs”). SB 903 imposes
upon hemp products, including edibles and smokables, industrial
hemp extracts, and any other consumable substance, a limit of no
greater than .3% total THC concentration and no more than two
milligrams of total THC per package or amount of cannabidiol that
is no less than 25 times greater than the amount of total THC per
package.
This restriction, referred to as a “Total THC
Standard,” is intended to prevent the sale to consumers of
ingestible, smokable, and otherwise consumable products that
contain intoxicants derived from federally lawful hemp that are the
functional equivalent of the delta-9 THC in federally unlawful
marijuana. Such products have proliferated since the 2018 Farm Bill
because chemical processes can be used to convert the chemicals in
hemp into intoxicating compounds like delta-8 THC.
The Court in No. VA Hemp determined that the plaintiffs
were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims because,
among other things, the 2018 Farm Bill did not preempt states from
regulating hemp products sold in their states.
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