{"id":1998,"date":"2026-06-30T09:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1998"},"modified":"2026-06-30T09:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:06:52","slug":"hemp-sellers-go-to-court-to-fight-new-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1998","title":{"rendered":"Hemp sellers go to court to fight new rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Read more Activists angered over West Oahu chicken fights, residents defend practice<\/a><\/p>\n

Some store owners are turning to federal court in a last-ditch effort to delay enforcement.<\/p>\n

Enforcement begins Wednesday<\/h2>\n

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.<\/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

<\/div>\n

The attorney general is also moving against unlicensed sellers.<\/p>\n

Retailers say regulations threaten their livelihoods<\/h2>\n

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.<\/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.<\/p>\n

Alyas said the enforcement could eliminate nearly his entire inventory.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this stuff would be taken off the shelves. This is almost 90% of our product line,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will probably destroy our business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawsuit asks judge to pause enforcement<\/h2>\n

Alyas and a colleague on Maui have filed suit against the state, arguing the new rules violate federal law and threaten excessive penalties \u2014 including product seizure. They are asking a judge to put the law on hold pending a trial.<\/p>\n

Read more Attorney general announces egg price-fixing settlement<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that\u2019ll do is say, hey, let\u2019s pause the law for a second. Let\u2019s make sure everything\u2019s right, everything\u2019s fair, and in our argument, it hasn\u2019t been fair,\u201d Alyas said.<\/p>\n

Goff said the industry had sufficient time to prepare.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\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 he said.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers back enforcement<\/h2>\n

State Rep. Scot Matayoshi, a Democrat who chairs the Consumer Protection Committee, said the regulations are necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d Matayoshi said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe can provide the lab results for all of these products,\u201d Alyas said.<\/p>\n

The state has characterized the lawsuit as an attempt to delay the inevitable. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday.<\/p>\n

Read more Kailua Fourth of July fireworks show returns with free shuttle service<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaii\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHemp sellers go to court to fight new rules - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hemp sellers go to court to fight new rules - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hawaii\u2019s 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.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1998\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T09:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Hemp sellers go to court to fight new rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T09:06:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b1a5682b92d2d0f098a14d4384bccd28.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1998\",\"name\":\"Hemp sellers go to court to fight new rules - 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