A group of hemp retailers and an agricultural organization are suing the state of Wyoming claiming that its recent ban on the marijuana-like substance delta-8 is unconstitutional. The Hemp Community of Wyoming wants an injunction or restraining order to stop the law from going into effect today.
“We will fight to keep our small businesses open, keep food on the tables of our staff, and keep products coming to the hardworking people [of] Wyoming,” Gillette’s Mountain High Wellness store owners Sarah and Richard McDaniel, who are among the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “The Hemp Community of Wyoming is not backing down until the people of Wyoming have the right to decide what we use for alternative options to big pharma and our small businesses have the right to continue to operate.”
A perceived loophole in federal and state law allowed for the rise of delta-8, a substance similar to marijuana. While marijuana remains illegal in Wyoming, shops across the state have started selling delta-8 products instead. Many of those stores are now plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court.
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Mandy Flint helped organize the group of plaintiffs, which also include shops like Up In Smoke II (Laramie), Capitol Botanicals (Cody), Dr. Chronic’s Concentrates (Casper), Flower Castle Elevated Wellness (Cheyenne), and CinD’s CBD and Vape (Torrington). It also includes the agricultural operation Greybull River Farms. The plaintiffs argue this ban illegally narrows the federal definition of hemp, interferes with interstate transportation, and is overly broad and vague.
“For instance, [Senate File 32 – Hemp-limitations on psychoactive substances] bans hemp containing any “synthetic substance,” a term which is overly broad that incorporates “non ‘psychoactive substances'” like CBD that contains no THC,” the filing states.
The plaintiffs are suing the state, governor, attorney general, Wyoming Department of Agriculture director, 21 county and prosecuting attorneys, and the district attorneys in Laramie and Natrona counties.
Members of the Hemp Community of Wyoming chipped in for the $35,000 retainer to work with Domonkos & Thorpe Law Office in Cheyenne with assistance from Philip Snow of MC Nutraceuticals and Justin Swanson of Bose Law.
A ban to close shops The Wyoming Legislature enacted the ban at its budget session earlier this year. Stores relying on delta-8 sales considered closing or selling all their delta-8, Platte Hemp co-owner Sam Watt told WyoFile in late May, but then some started contacting him because he’d told news outlets that he wanted to fight the ban. Platte Hemp and its five stores around the state are also part of the suit.
There’s actually quite a [few] shops that were getting rid of all their product,” before they heard about the lawsuit, Watt said. “[Now], they’re not going to be carrying a lot of products, just in case it does go south.”
