{"id":86241,"date":"2026-07-01T09:59:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T17:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/hawaii-officials-are-facing-a-federal-lawsuit-over-newly-enforced-hemp-product-restrictions\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:48:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T03:48:05","slug":"hawaii-officials-are-facing-a-federal-lawsuit-over-newly-enforced-hemp-product-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/01\/hawaii-officials-are-facing-a-federal-lawsuit-over-newly-enforced-hemp-product-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Officials Are Facing A Federal Lawsuit Over Newly Enforced Hemp Product Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this stuff would be taken off the shelves. This is almost 90 percent of our product line. It will probably destroy our business.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Phillip Smith, The American Hemp Monitor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hawaii will crack down on non-compliant hemp and CBD retailers beginning Wednesday as enforcement of a state law passed last year requiring them to register commences. The law went into effect January 1, but the state gave retailers a grace period before beginning enforcement actions.<\/p>\n

So far, only 50 shops have registered, and other hemp businesses have turned to the federal courts. They are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the state from enforcing the law until the issue can be argued before a judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that\u2019ll do is say, \u2018hey, let\u2019s pause the law for a second. Let\u2019s make sure everything\u2019s right, everything\u2019s fair,\u2019 and in our argument, it hasn\u2019t been fair,\u201d said Lance Alyas, one of the plaintiffs in the case and the owner of four hemp and CBD shops.<\/p>\n

But state Medical Cannabis Control director Andrew Goff retorted that shop owners had sufficient time to prepare.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had time to change your inventory or pivot from whatever industry you want to go into. And I think we\u2019ve given people enough time for that,\u201d Goff said.<\/p>\n

Under state law, only products that meet the definition of a \u201cmanufactured hemp product\u201d are allowed for sale. Such products must also fully comply with all state regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to, total THC limits, lab testing, restrictions on certain ingredients and child-safety packaging and labeling before they can be sold.<\/p>\n

Edibles, topicals and beverages are considered \u201cmanufactured hemp products\u201d and thus legal (if they meet the other requirements), but vapes, smokeable hemp, and products made with \u201cartificially derived or synthetic cannabinoids,\u201d including those created from CBD, are not.<\/p>\n

Also, any \u201cmanufactured hemp product\u201d whose THC levels exceed those specified by the state is illegal. Allowable THC levels are capped at 1 milligram per serving and 5 milligrams per package.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of those products are meant to be intoxicating,\u201d Goff said. \u201cAnd products like smokables, vapes, those have never been legal under Hawaii law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alyas said he had already removed highly potent synthetic cannabinoid products from his shelves but that he still worried about his remaining product lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all naturally derived. So there\u2019s nothing synthetic in it. This is flower, for example. We have gummies. These are specifically for sleep. We\u2019ve got smokables like these,\u201d Alyas said. \u201cAll of this stuff would be taken off the shelves. This is almost 90 percent of our product line,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will probably destroy our business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hemp retailers are garnering little sympathy from key politicians, such as Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D), chair of the House Consumer Protection Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf putting these people out of business means getting these products off the streets\u2026that are falling into the hands of kids and that are circumventing our other laws, then they should be out of business,\u201d Matayoshi said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While enforcement begins on Wednesday, it could be halted on Thursday. That is when a federal judge, who could rule immediately, hears the case.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by The American Hemp Monitor.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The post Hawaii Officials Are Facing A Federal Lawsuit Over Newly Enforced Hemp Product Restrictions<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Hawaii Officials Are Facing A Federal Lawsuit Over Newly Enforced Hemp Product Restrictions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll of this stuff would be taken off the shelves. This is almost 90 percent of our product line. It will probably destroy our business.\u201d By Phillip Smith, The American Hemp Monitor Hawaii will crack down on non-compliant hemp and CBD retailers beginning Wednesday as enforcement of a state lawContinue 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\/86241"}],"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=86241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86242,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86241\/revisions\/86242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}