Hemp sellers go to court to fight new rules

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii’s hemp and CBD retailers could be forced to close by the end of the week as the state prepares to begin enforcing new regulations Wednesday, with fewer than 50 shops having registered under the new law.

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Some store owners are turning to federal court in a last-ditch effort to delay enforcement.

Enforcement begins Wednesday

The state health department will begin inspecting registered hemp stores Wednesday for products deemed illegal under the new rules. State Medical Cannabis Control director Andrew Goff said many of the products currently on shelves were never permitted under Hawaii law.

“A lot of those products are meant to be intoxicating,” Goff said. “And products like smokables, vapes, those have never been legal under Hawaii law.”

The attorney general is also moving against unlicensed sellers.

Retailers say regulations threaten their livelihoods

Lance Alyas operates four small hemp and CBD outlets. He said he already holds a license under the new state law and has removed highly potent synthetic products from his inventory, but hopes to continue selling others.

“These are all naturally derived. So there’s nothing synthetic in it. This is flower for example. We have gummies. These are specifically for sleep. We’ve got smokables like these,” Alyas said.

Alyas said the enforcement could eliminate nearly his entire inventory.

“All of this stuff would be taken off the shelves. This is almost 90% of our product line,” he said. “It will probably destroy our business.”

Lawsuit asks judge to pause enforcement

Alyas and a colleague on Maui have filed suit against the state, arguing the new rules violate federal law and threaten excessive penalties — including product seizure. They are asking a judge to put the law on hold pending a trial.

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“What that’ll do is say, hey, let’s pause the law for a second. Let’s make sure everything’s right, everything’s fair, and in our argument, it hasn’t been fair,” Alyas said.

Goff said the industry had sufficient time to prepare.

“You had time to change your inventory or pivot from whatever industry you want to go into. And I think we’ve given people enough time for that,” he said.

Lawmakers back enforcement

State Rep. Scot Matayoshi, a Democrat who chairs the Consumer Protection Committee, said the regulations are necessary.

“If putting these people out of business means getting these products off the streets… that are falling into the hands of kids and that are circumventing our other laws, then they should be out of business,” Matayoshi said.

Hemp retailers say they serve customers who do not want to register as medical cannabis patients but still have medical needs, and they deny their products are unsafe.

“We can provide the lab results for all of these products,” Alyas said.

The state has characterized the lawsuit as an attempt to delay the inevitable. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday.

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