Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash
ALEXANDRIA – Two hemp companies and a private citizen are challenging a Virginia law that instituted stricter limits on hemp products in Virginia in federal court, saying the new rules cause financial harm to hemp companies and interfere with the interstate commerce
The law, which went into effect on July 1, set the maximum amount of THC in hemp products at a concentration of 0.3% and 2 milligrams per package. This cut has made hundreds of products placed on the shelves before July illegal and subject to fines if sold.
The lawsuit by hemp products retailer Northern Virginia Hemp and Agriculture, hemp customer Rose Lane and North Carolina-based hemp grower and distributor Franny’s Operations argues that if not stopped, the law “will cause millions of dollars of irreparable damage” and “will cause the Banned”. The products will not be available in the Commonwealth, exacerbating potential health concerns for thousands of Virginians.”
The plaintiffs argue that the state definition of legal hemp conflicts with the federal definition: cannabis with less than 0.3% specifically delta-9 THC content. Virginia law, on the other hand, defines legal hemp products as those with less than 0.3% total THC content, which includes not only the more common delta-9 but also the milder delta-8 strain and all other natural and synthetic isomers combined.
The complaint says this puts state law in direct conflict with federal law, contrary to the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution.
Northern Virginia Hemp and Agriculture said the new law has resulted in the loss of 90 percent of its business because nearly all of the products it manufactured and sold before July 1 are now banned.
Selling hemp products “has become people’s livelihoods,” said Travis Lane, owner of the business. “This [lawsuit] It’s just worth trying, you know, like it’s a 50-50 shot that we win or lose.”
Lane said if the law is not stopped, he will be forced to close his doors before the end of the year. “I think it should definitely be regulated, but not regulated to the point where you close the doors to good businesses,” he said.
Jason Amatucci, president of the Virginia Hemp Coalition, which helped find plaintiffs and raise funds for the lawsuit, said Virginia’s stricter limits were supported and pushed for by medical marijuana companies who saw the hemp industry as a competitive threat. He called it “a double standard” that marijuana is still federally illegal while its use has been legalized in Virginia, but some federally legal hemp products are now banned in the state.
Lawmakers, however, have expressed growing concern over the growth of a largely unregulated market in Virginia and associated sharp increases in hospitalizations of minors who have ingested hemp-derived products. In addition to the THC limits they imposed, the new law includes safety and labeling requirements for containers and imposes increasing fines for non-compliance.
Chloe Smith, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jason Miyares, declined to comment on the pending litigation, but reiterated that Miyares is “dedicated to combating the increase in accidental THC poisonings in children and is concerned about the increase in dangerous and counterfeit THC products marketed towards our vulnerable youth.”
Amatucci, however, said he doesn’t think the law focuses enough on the safety of children or counterfeit synthetic products.
“We need education for these things, and we also need smart laws that target exactly what we want to target, but to take a straight sword and cut the industry the way they did was irresponsible,” Amatucci said. “If we win the lawsuit or [are] Coming back to the next session, we’ll have to fix this.”
Complicating the Virginia law is a separation for hemp-based CBD products, written after complaints from caregivers of epileptic children using CBD oil as an anti-seizure treatment, that sets a minimum ratio of 25:1 from CBD to THC for products with more than 2. milligrams of THC.
Dawn Adams, D-Richmond, has pointed out that manufacturers will still be able to sell large amounts of THC as long as they also include 25 times that amount of CBD. Visitors to the NoVa Hemp website are greeted with a pop-up that reads, “All Virginia products now include an additional 25:1 ratio of CBD isolate added to the packaging. You will not be disappointed!”
“It’s like more steps that we have to put into something that we don’t think should actually happen,” Lane said. “It’s ridiculous.”
The plaintiffs are also challenging a provision of the law that prohibits hemp processors from selling industrial hemp to anyone inside or outside state lines if the seller has reason to believe it will be used in a substance that violates the THC limits of 0.3% of the state.
Federally, marijuana remains illegal, but the 2018 farm bill removed hemp from a Schedule I controlled substance classification, a category that includes heroin. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services suggested that the Drug Enforcement Agency change marijuana’s classification to a Schedule III drug.
The case will be heard on September 29 by District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria.
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