A nearly two-year-old legal battle is over—for now—after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit over the legality of delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) goods and other low-THC hemp products.
Judge James R. Sweeney II, of the U.S. District Court for Indiana’s Southern District, wrote the suit is “fundamentally” a “question for consideration by Indiana’s courts.”
Delta-8 is an isomer of delta-9 THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Plaintiffs 3Chi, Midwest Hemp Council and Wall’s Organics filed suit in 2023, several months after an opinion from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) found the products are illegal.
The opinion was a direct response to a request by now-former Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter and the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. Local law enforcement agencies took note, with some notifying retailers they could get in trouble or even raiding retailers, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs argued that Rokita’s opinion violates the 2018 federal Farm Bill—which removed hemp from the definition of marijuana—and similar provisions in Indiana law by “unilaterally” reclassifying their products as Schedule I controlled drugs. They also sought an injunction.
The judge determined the plaintiffs had standing to sue. But in an order filed Tuesday, Sweeney found they “have not met their burden of demonstrating that their alleged injury is redressable by the Court.”
The “problem,” Sweeney wrote, is that Rokita’s opinion isn’t binding and isn’t law.
Hellbound and Down 