A federal judge last week ruled that the Alaska Department of Federal Resources did not violate the U.S. Constitution with regulations on the sale of intoxicating hemp products that were issued in 2023, KTOO reports. In the order, Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon found the plaintiffs – the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association – “identified no authority that supports their suggestion that the State’s amended hemp regulations conflict with the 2018 Farm Act’s definition of hemp” and that the “regulations are consistent” with the Farm Bill.
The rules require that intoxicating hemp products be sold only through licensed cannabis retailers in the state, and products sold outside of the state-approved retailers are considered illegal.
“On their face, the amended regulations provide that any hemp retailer – regardless of its location – may not offer products intended for human or animal consumption that contain delta-9-THC. Plaintiffs present no evidence that the regulations treat out-of-state hemp retailers any differently from their in-state counterparts. Moreover, the State’s differential regulation of the marijuana market does not render the amended hemp regulations discriminatory. The effects of those regulations on out-of-state hemp retailers cannot be compared to those effects on in-state marijuana retailers or other participants in the marijuana market, for those entities are not similarly situated.” — Reardon in the order
In an email, Assistant Attorney General Kevin Higgins, who represented the state in the lawsuit, told KTOO that the Agriculture Division “was motivated by public safety concerns when it took measured action to regulate an emerging industry.”
“This was an easy case to make,” he told KTOO, “which is probably why the plaintiffs didn’t file an opposition to the motion for summary judgment.”
Alaska legalized cannabis for adult use in 2014.
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