A coalition of Virginia businesses are planning to file a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction on a new regulatory definition of legal hemp products sold in the state, Richmond Biz Sense reports. Barbara Biddle, owner of District Hemp in Northern Virginia and an expected plaintiff in the case, told Biz Sense that the businesses hope an injunction can give them more time to adjust their operations.
“We just need time to sort through that, so there’s not this devastating ripple effect that impacts not only business owners and their employees but all the vendors that work with them.” — Biddle to Biz Sense
Lawmakers, via the budget process that legalized adult-use cannabis sales, redefined hemp products sold in the state. Under current law, legal products have a total THC concentration of no more than 0.3% with a maximum of 2 milligrams of total THC per package or are sold in a package that features a 25:1 ratio of CBD to THC. The new definition removes the 25:1 ratio provision on August 15 and would effectively classify most hemp products sold in the state as adult-use and medical cannabis products under state law.
Biddle told Biz Sense that the lawsuit does not seek to delay or “dismantle” the adult-use market but rather seeks to try “to save businesses that have invested in the structure that Virginia built and told us to invest in.”
“We want to make sure they don’t end up losing their livelihoods overnight,” she said.
The lawsuit has not yet been filed. The plaintiffs, which include Biddle, another unnamed retailer and manufacturers, will be represented by former state senator Chap Petersen.
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