Federal judge upholds Wyoming’s new hemp regulations

A federal judge last week denied a request to block Wyoming’s new law regulating hemp-derived products, ruling that such restrictions are not preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp nationally.

According to Law360, U.S. District Judge Kelly H. Rankin rejected arguments from hemp businesses that Wyoming Senate Enrolled Act 24 conflicts with federal law and would cause irreparable harm. The law, which took effect July 1, prohibits products containing synthetic cannabinoids and restricts levels of intoxicating compounds like delta-8 THC.

In his order, Rankin wrote that the 2018 Farm Bill does not create a right to produce or sell hemp products, but rather allows states to impose stricter rules.

“Federal statutes are replete with definitions,” Rankin wrote. “It is farfetched to assume every definition confers a right to a person without some other affirmative congressional expression of intent to confer that right.”

He later wrote, “The 2018 Farm Bill does not provide them a substantive right to make a preemption claim, and even if it did, it permits States to impose more stringent restrictions”

The lawsuit was filed in June by several Wyoming hemp businesses, led by Green Room LLC. They argued the new law would effectively recriminalize products legalized by Congress in 2018.

Rankin also ruled that the law does not violate the Constitution’s Commerce Clause or represent an impermissible taking of property. He found that any financial harm to businesses could be addressed through monetary damages if they prevail in a trial.

“Irreparable harms require more than economic loss and the use of a drug of choice,” Rankin wrote.

“A full and favorable adjudication on the merits would enable Plaintiffs to recover their financial damages. An inability to use those hemp products does not prevent them from a life-saving drug, such as a diabetics need for insulin.”

Wyoming officials defended the law as addressing public health concerns. In court filings, state attorneys argued that some of these products were already illegal under prior laws, and that the new legislation aims to address “public concerns of delta-8 and other psychoactive substances.”

“By including delta-8 as a controlled substance and banning synthetic substances, there is a rational relationship to Wyoming’s goal to promote the health and safety of its citizens,” the order stated.

It added, “Even if this were an unconstitutional taking for public use, that is not a legitimate ground for a preliminary injunction.”

The ruling allows the state to continue enforcing the new law while the case proceeds.