In Ohio, a county judge temporarily blocked the emergency order that banned the sale of hemp-based intoxicants. This has halted the new regulations for the next two weeks to allow legal challenges to be resolved.
Carl Aveni, a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge who issued the temporary injunction order after expressing concern that Gov. Mike DeWine creates “new” definitions about what is intoxicating hemp, which do not exist under state law.
The order had directed all retailers to remove intoxicating hemp products—such as gummies, drinks, and chocolates—from their shelves and halt sales.
This pause gives the hemp industry a brief breather while the court determines whether DeWine’s unilateral decision is legal. Governor DeWine’s action came after months of discussion on how to regulate intoxicants derived from hemp in Ohio, in which regulators had warned about the widespread availability of hemp-derived products with delta-8 or delta-9 THC.
Other state actions
MichiganLegislators are pushing legislation which would regulate hemp products outside of the adult use cannabis market in their state. While the majority of this bill deals with cannabis licensing, it also contains provisions that would establish THC levels for hemp products. This will bring hemp intoxicants into the cannabis regulation framework. Legislators argue that these measures are required to close the loopholes allowing unregulated hemp intoxicants to circulate widely. The industry is divided: Some hemp operators applaud the new clarity while others are concerned about increased compliance costs and the loss of retail outlets.
CaliforniaRegulators mark one year that hemp-derived intoxicants are sold at alcohol-licensed establishments. California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has reported that 99% of the regulations prohibiting food, beverage, or supplement sales containing detectable THC and other intoxicating Cannabinoids have been followed. ABC agents have conducted inspections of nearly 15,000 licensed businesses since the emergency regulation came into effect on September 20, 2024. They removed over 7,200 illegal items from store shelves.
Patchwork responses
The increasing fragmentation in the U.S. legal landscape is evident from these developments. With no federal clarity following the 2018 Farm Bill’s loophole on hemp-derived THC, states are pursuing divergent approaches—ranging from emergency bans and judicial interventions to integration into cannabis frameworks or targeted enforcement campaigns. This patchwork of regulations has caused confusion for both hemp companies and state regulators as Congress decides what to do about intoxicating hemp.