Federal judge again denies request to block Iowa’s hemp law

DES MOINES — A federal judge has again denied a request from consumable hemp manufacturers and retailers to temporarily block a new Iowa law that regulates consumable hemp products and THC potency in the state.

Judge Stephanie Rose of the Southern District of Iowa said in a pair of rulings Friday that the companies failed to prove that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.

The law, which state lawmakers passed this year and has been in effect since July 1, limits the amount of THC — the main intoxicating chemical in cannabis — that can be in “consumable hemp” products that are legal under federal law.

A product cannot have more than 4 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per container, and it must include a warning label.

The law also bans the sale of synthetic consumable hemp products and bans the sale of consumable hemp to minors.

The state Health and Human Services Department finalized the rules to enforce the law this month, defining some terms that the companies had said were too vague to be enforced.

The rulings covered two lawsuits — one by THC beverage manufacturers Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing, and another by a group of consumable hemp retailers and manufacturers.

The companies challenged the law on a number of grounds, including that it was preempted by the federal Farm Bill, that it was unconstitutionally vague,and that it violated rules about interstate commerce and property seizure.

The order means the law will remain in place for now, but the lawsuits are likely to continue.

Judge: Rules clear up vagueness

Both groups argued that the law was too vague to be enforced because it did not define important terms like “serving,” “container,” “synthetic consumable hemp,” and the warning label that must be attached to the products.

Climbing Kites and other beverage manufacturers had expected to be able to change their labels to say a 12-ounce contained more than one serving, allowing them to include up to 10 milligrams of THC in a can. But the HHS rules created state a 12-ounce can cannot contain more than one “serving,” meaning a can contain only up to 4 milligrams of THC each.

Rose, the federal judge, expressed concerns about the vagueness of the “serving” definition early in the litigation, but she wrote in her orders that the new rules have defined the terms and cleared up the previous confusion, meaning there is no grounds to challenge the law over its vagueness.

“Now that the Final Rules have been promulgated and are in effect, there is no longer a viable argument that ‘serving’ as set forth in the Hemp Amendments is an unconstitutionally vague term,” she wrote.

The companies also argued the HHS department can arbitrarily enforce the standards and reject some products that should be allowed under the law. The judge said that even if the law is being improperly applied, that doesn’t make it unconstitutionally vague.

“The crux of the issue is not whether the law can be arbitrarily enforced, but whether the language is sufficiently clear so as not to invite arbitrary enforcement,” she wrote.

Rose also ruled the short window manufacturers and retailers had to comply with the law — six weeks between when it was signed and when it took effect — does not violate any constitutional standard.

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She said the companies’ argument that they did not have enough time to adapt to the new standards was “essentially a claim of what would be better for their businesses.”

The companies suing the state have said the law wiped out the vast majority of the products. Many have had to shut down one or more locations as sales have fallen significantly.

“It’s completely devastating for the entire industry,” Lacie Navin, who operates consumable hemp shops around Des Moines and is a plaintiff in the case, said in an interview earlier this month.

“Upwards of 70 percent of our products are off the shelf, most of those being non-intoxicating products, just because no one making legislation understands how these formulations work.”