Welcome to our weekly roundup of CBD and hemp-related legal and regulatory news:
HempTexas judge rules state's smokable hemp ban unconstitutional
Judge Lora J. Livingston of the Texas 261st Civil District Court struck down the state's ban on smokable forms of hemp, saying it violated the state's constitution. The decision marks a victory for a group of Lone Star hemp companies who argued the ban on manufacturing nonpsychoactive hemp flower was both unconstitutional and bad policy. Judge Livingston didn't explain why she found the law unconstitutional. But at oral arguments in March, Matthew Zorn, an attorney for the hemp companies, argued the law and regulations banning smokable hemp were arbitrary and capricious, and that a ruling in the state's favor would give credence to an "exceptionally dangerous view of state power." Law 360 (sub. req.)
U.S.'s largest hemp processing facility being built in southern Indiana
The nation's largest hemp processing facility is being built in southern Indiana. When it's finished, Hemprise will make hemp into CBD. In the two warehouses of the facility, hemp will be dried and go through an extraction process in order to create CBD products – both oil and powder versions. The company expects to process between eight million to 10 million pounds of hemp each year, which will be distributed nationwide. CBD is a gray area legally, but H.R. 841 in the U.S. House of Representatives would ensure hemp-derived CBD and other hemp ingredients could be legally marketed as dietary supplements, something Hollingsworth supports. WDRB
DOJ argues CBD company's suit against plane service is admission forfeiture was legitimate
The DOJ told an N.C. federal judge a hemp distributor's seized cargo is rightfully forfeit because the company admitted in a separate lawsuit that it knew its shipment was incorrectly documented. The government said when Ore.-based hemp firm We CBD filed its negligence lawsuit against Planet Nine Private Air, the charter plane service that was transporting the captured hemp, it effectively admitted that border officials were right to confiscate it. The civil forfeiture proceeding is one of the multiple legal actions to come out of the Nov. 8 seizure of hemp at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, while it was on its way to Switzerland. The DOJ attorneys also filed a motion to strike claims submitted by We CBD in an effort to recover about 550 pounds of hemp. The government said the affirmative defenses, which claim the seizure was improper, were irrelevant to the forfeiture proceeding, for which federal authorities only needed to establish that it had probable cause. In addition to its action against Planet Nine, We CBD has pending action against the Customs and Border Protection, alleging a larger tranche of hemp – nearly 3,000 pounds – seized at the same time was wrongfully destroyed by federal officials. Law 360 (sub. req.)
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