A federal appeals court has upheld a Virginia ban on intoxicating hemp products with any THC concentration above 0.3%.
Leonie Brinkema, a district judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Virginia, ruled that the restrictions do not violate federal law, another setback for hemp industry efforts to overturn Senate Bill 903, according to a blog post by the Troutman Pepper Locke law firm.
The legislation, which was enacted in 2023, included a THC limit of 0.3% for all hemp-derived products and a limit on total TCH on any cannabinoid or synthetic, rendering nearly all intoxicating delta-8 THC products illegal.
A federal judge in September 2023 rejected pleas from two hemp companies and a consumer who challenged the law signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Judge Brinkema wrote in her ruling upholding the injunctions that the companies failed to prove they were state-licensed processors and disputed their argument that Virginia law violated the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The governor also is an opponent of recreational marijuana.
In March 2024, Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have legalized adult-use sales in Virginia.
Virginia legalized a medical marijuana market in 2021.
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