Texas\u2019s ban on the production and sale of smokeable hemp products is unconstitutional, a state district court declared on Monday.<\/p>\n
In a major victory for the state\u2019s hemp industry, Judge Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs\u2014a group of hemp businesses who sued the Texas Department of State Health Services over a ban on the manufacturing and selling of smokable cannabis products it imposed after the crop was legalized in 2019.<\/p>\n
Livingston said in a decision letter that judgment \u201cis granted in favor of the Plaintiffs,\u201d without the need for further evidence or hearings. That means a series of Texas statutes prohibiting hemp manufacturing and sales will be fully invalidated after counsel submits final judgements for her to sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pleased with the result. This law never made any sense, was an unjustifiable infringement of liberty when enacted and would have seriously hurt the Texas hemp industry from farmers to consumers if allowed to move forward,\u201d Matt Zorn, one of the lead attorneys on the case, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cAfter a full trial, the court saw things our way and declared the statute unconstitutional under the Texas Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, an appeals court had modified a prior injunction and determined that regulators couldn\u2019t enforce a ban on the sales component<\/a> of the smokeable hemp market. But now there\u2019s a permanent injunction that bars the state from prohibiting the full range of hemp activity.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Texas makes its way out of the prohibition era, there will be good and bad policy decisions. This ruling shows that bad policy can be overturned,\u201d Heather Fazio, director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cWe can thank these outstanding cannabis attorneys and industry leaders who were willing to stand up for free enterprise and accountable government.\u201d<\/p>\n Zorn said the plaintiffs based their case on a 2015 state Supreme Court ruling that maintained a law could be deemed unconstitutional if \u201cthe statute\u2019s effect as a whole is so unreasonably burdensome that it becomes oppressive in relation to the underlying governmental interest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur position all along has been the manufacturing and processing ban didn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d Zorn said. However, he did say he expects the state to appeal once the judgment is finalized.<\/p>\n Zachary Maxwell, president of Texas Hemp Growers, said Monday\u2019s ruling \u201cis a major win for Texas\u2019 hemp industry, and may set a new standard in similar cases across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe attorneys behind the Texas Hemp Legal Defense Fund fought hard, brought fact-based arguments to the courtroom, and proved the undeniable financial harm caused by this cavalier ban,\u201d he said in a press release.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some activists are holding out hope that Texas lawmakers might pursue further reforms after a session that saw a number of drug policy developments. Marijuana activists in the state had called on the governor to put further expansions to the state\u2019s medical cannabis program<\/a> on the agenda for special legislative sessions he\u2019s convened, for example, but that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n While Gov. Greg Abbott (R)\u00a0signed legislation in June to moderately expand the medical marijuana law<\/a> by adding qualifying conditions and slightly increasing the THC limit for marijuana products, Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition (RAMP) and other advocates hoping to see further action.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a newly established progressive group in the state called Ground Game Texas unveiled a campaign in June to put an initiative to decriminalize cannabis possession<\/a>\u00a0and ban no-knock warrants on this November\u2019s ballot in Austin.<\/p>\n A strong majority of Texans back even broader reform, according to recent polling. Sixty percent of voters in the state\u00a0support making cannabis legal \u201cfor any use,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0signaling that local initiatives for more modest proposals like decriminalization will likely prevail where they qualify for local ballots.<\/p>\n With respect to the recently ended regular legislative session, advocates remain disappointed that they were\u00a0unable to pass more expansive cannabis bills<\/a>\u2014including a decriminalization proposal that cleared the House but saw no action in the Senate.<\/p>\n Also this session, however, the governor allowed a bill to be enacted without his signature that will require the state to study\u00a0the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans.<\/p>\n The\u00a0House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2019,\u00a0but it did not advance<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate that session.<\/p>\n Read the new decision letter on the Texas smokable hemp ban below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Decision Letter Crown Distr\u2026<\/a> by Marijuana Moment<\/a><\/p>\n FDA Says Iowa\u2019s Medical Marijuana Law Doesn\u2019t Risk Federal Funds For Academic Institutions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Pixabay<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Texas Ban On Smokeable Hemp Manufacturing And Sales Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019s ban on the production and sale of smokeable hemp products is unconstitutional, a state district court declared on Monday. In a major victory for the state\u2019s hemp industry, Judge Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs\u2014a group of hemp businesses who sued the TexasContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49560,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49559\/revisions\/49560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Texas Ban On Smokeable Hemp Manufacturing And Sales Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"