Virginia’s 2mg THC Cap on Intoxicating Hemp Products Goes Into Effect
Virginia retailers selling intoxicating hemp products had wide swaths of inventory become illegal on Aug. 15 after a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order for industry stakeholders the previous day.
As part of the state budget Virginia lawmakers passed in June, a new law now prohibits consumable hemp products from containing more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package, eliminating the commonwealth’s 25-to-1 CBD-to-THC rule that had allowed products to contain intoxicating amounts of THC so long as they had 25 times more nonintoxicating CBD.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the budget legislation, House Bill 30, on June 29.
In response, seven companies filed a lawsuit against Spanberger and other state officials on July 31, seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on Aug. 15.
U.S. District Judge Robert S. Ballou, from Virginia’s Western District, denied those motions on Aug. 14.
“Plaintiffs entered and invested in a heavily regulated and rapidly evolving industry,” Ballou wrote in his opinion. “Federal and state governments have repeatedly altered the legal status and regulatory treatment of hemp-derived THC products. Against that backdrop, plaintiffs’ expectation that their products would remain lawful for sale indefinitely is not obviously reasonable.”
As part of a budget compromise between Spanberger and lawmakers, the bill also transfers regulatory oversight of the state’s consumable hemp product market from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) beginning on July 1, 2027, correlating with the state’s adult-use cannabis sales launch.
The seven plaintiffs – including hemp processors, manufacturers, distributors and retailers – argued in their complaint that state officials failed to provide them guidance on how to comply with the new law while also maintaining viable businesses.
The judge wasn’t persuaded.
“It should be of little surprise that many of plaintiffs’ claims relate to the attendant complications and unintended consequences that rushed legislation creates,” Ballou wrote. “But it is not the role of this court to second-guess the Virginia Legislature in setting an effective date for the new law. The court is limited to determining whether the law violates plaintiffs’ constitutional rights and whether plaintiffs are entitled to the extraordinary remedy of enjoining its effective date.”
The plaintiffs include Cypress Hemp, District Hemp, Kultivate Wellness, Northern Virginia Hemp & Agriculture, Pure Shenandoah, Redfern Hemp Co. and Simply Hemp.
