{"id":78386,"date":"2024-10-16T09:35:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T17:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/10\/16\/new-jersey-hemp-industry-in-limbo-after-court-decision-upholding-state-ban-on-product-sales\/"},"modified":"2024-10-16T19:46:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T03:46:26","slug":"new-jersey-hemp-industry-in-limbo-after-court-decision-upholding-state-ban-on-product-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/10\/16\/new-jersey-hemp-industry-in-limbo-after-court-decision-upholding-state-ban-on-product-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Hemp Industry In Limbo After Court Decision Upholding State Ban On Product Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have many businesses in a do-or-die moment of, \u2018Can I pay my bills? Do I push the limits?\u2019 That\u2019s definitely been a chilling effect.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Jersey\u2019s hemp industry is at a regulatory standstill after the state announced\u00a0that \u201cat this time\u201d it won\u2019t enforce a new law temporarily banning hemp sales<\/a>, four days after a federal judge upheld most aspects of the law as constitutional.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Williams, a cannabis and hemp attorney with Porzio Compliance Services, said the state has failed to provide sufficient guidance to business owners, hemp farmers, manufacturers and retailers. Some feel as though they\u2019re in limbo, unclear about what they can and can\u2019t do, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people have removed the product off the shelves. Some are selling it very judiciously. Everybody\u2019s looking for more clarification, because they\u2019re getting 180 degrees in terms of differing opinions,\u201d Williams said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The state\u2019s hemp law went into effect Saturday<\/a>, but the only provision state officials said they will enforce is prohibiting sales to people under the age of 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which the new law tasks with overseeing the hemp industry, blamed its decision not to enforce the law on the court ruling. Released Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, it sided in two key areas with hemp businesses that had challenged the law but declined the plaintiffs\u2019 request to toss the entire law out. The commission on Saturday said it was still reviewing the decision and did not respond for additional comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers wrote and passed the bill amid concerns that children could easily buy products with thousands of milligrams of untested THC. In September, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed the bill into law, agreeing with those concerns but stressing he had reservations about the law being too vague.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hemp businesses filed suit two weeks later. The plaintiffs argued that hemp is federally legal and the law effectively recriminalizes hemp cultivators, manufacturers and retailers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The law as written requires hemp businesses to obtain licenses through the cannabis agency to sell, manufacture or distribute hemp, a process that could take months or longer. The law also allows some liquor license holders to sell hemp products as long they receive licenses from the cannabis commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beau Huch, an attorney representing hemp-derived beverage companies, said the commission\u2019s Saturday statement left people \u201cincredibly confused\u201d about what the future holds for retail shops. <\/span>Some stores aren\u2019t sure whether they want to take the risk and sell hemp products or buy more inventory, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have many businesses in a do-or-die moment of, \u2018Can I pay my bills? Do I push the limits?\u2019 That\u2019s definitely been a chilling effect,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some attorneys fear that municipalities may begin to take matters into their own hands and get local police to act if they see retailers selling hemp products. Williams said he had expected direction from the Attorney General\u2019s Office to local, county and state police on how to deal with this matter. He\u2019s concerned businesses are still at risk, criminally and civilly, despite the cannabis agency\u2019s statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the law, people selling intoxicating hemp products without a license could face a fine of at least $100 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second offense and at least $10,000 for each subsequent violation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joshua Bauchner, a cannabis attorney at law firm Mandelbaum Barrett, doesn\u2019t have the same concerns about municipalities stepping in. He said he doesn\u2019t believe that any town\u2019s attempt to shut down local smoke shops would stand up in court.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m cautiously optimistic that, for the most part, everyone\u2019s just going to take a big, deep breath and step aside from anything that\u2019s unrelated to the prohibited sales to minors,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For most of his clients, it was business as usual on Monday, he said, stressing that his clients have long checked customers\u2019 identification and refused to sell hemp products to people under 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said it was \u201cvery smart\u201d of the cannabis agency to take the position it did. The original intent of the legislation was to stop minors from buying sketchy products with synthetic cannabinoids, and the commission\u2019s decision to enforce only the age requirement for now does just that, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf things had stood, arguably, people\u2019s shelves and warehouses were filled with contraband. No one wants that\u2014the uncertainty of whether you are now engaging in a criminal enterprise keeping you up at night,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Attorney General\u2019s Office and the Cannabis Regulatory Commission did not respond to requests for comment Monday. The Attorney General\u2019s Office declined to comment on the matter last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quraishi\u2019s decision says it\u2019s the Legislature\u2019s task to correct any constitutional deficiencies he found with the law, which focused on language regarding out-of-state hemp businesses. Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) sponsored the hemp bill and in a statement said lawmakers will work to \u201cclarify any technical details that are necessary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Huch said he wants lawmakers to see this as a second chance to work with the hemp industry<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>He\u2019d like to see the state\u2019s alcohol control division promulgate rules in conjunction with the cannabis agency. And the state needs to create a funding mechanism to support enforcement, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He added the state could delay the law from going into effect for a year and take that time to collect more data.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like that was lost in translation when this went through originally,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams listed a litany of issues with the decision and the hemp law. He said the judge didn\u2019t address many of the claims in the original lawsuit, like vagueness in the law, language regarding total THC limits and liquor store compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the law, New Jersey will count \u201ctotal THC\u201d in products, which will hold derived hemp to a higher standard than the federal law that legalized hemp. Products with more than 0.5 milligrams of THC per serving or 2.5 milligrams per package would be under the purview of the cannabis agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hemp farmers feel like it\u2019s nearly impossible to keep that limit so low, Williams said, leaving them concerned about whether they can grow anything under New Jersey\u2019s limit. Most of these workers are local growers on family farms, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bauchner also hopes that\u2019s something lawmakers also tackle in clean-up legislation, though he\u2019s not confident it\u2019ll happen since the court upheld the state\u2019s definition of intoxicating hemp.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the major pain points is how the Cannabis Regulatory Committee will oversee the hemp industry. The agency has had a tumultuous three years since its inception in 2021. Critics said cannabis sales took too long, the licensing approval process remains slow and without enough cultivators to meet the demand, prices remain high.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now with overseeing the hemp industry among its tasks, Huch said the commission has been handed \u201ca behemoth of an industry with no immediate appropriation or future funding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) has been a frequent critic of the cannabis agency. He said lawmakers are looking at whether the agency needs more funding and resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know this is a bigger issue on the CRC and funding and their role on how they\u2019re going to regulate. All good questions and all ones we\u2019re going to be answering pretty soon,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This story was first published by New Jersey Monitor.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument In Case From Worker Fired Over THC Test Following Use Of CBD Product<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post New Jersey Hemp Industry In Limbo After Court Decision Upholding State Ban On Product Sales<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: New Jersey Hemp Industry In Limbo After Court Decision Upholding State Ban On Product Sales<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou have many businesses in a do-or-die moment of, \u2018Can I pay my bills? Do I push the limits?\u2019 That\u2019s definitely been a chilling effect.\u201d By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor New Jersey\u2019s hemp industry is at a regulatory standstill after the state announced\u00a0that \u201cat this time\u201d it won\u2019t enforceContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78386"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78387,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78386\/revisions\/78387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}