Earlier this week, a judge in Nashville revealed that she’d announce her ruling on an application made by the state’s hemp industry to block state regulations from coming into effect by Christmas Eve.
Chancellor I’Ashea Myles of Davidson County, who presided over an almost 3-hour hearing, told attorneys that her mind was made up on the matter.
The new regulations, which are set to kick in on December 26th, would criminalize the sale of different hemp products, a move that would negatively impact hemp retailers, distributors and manufacturers in the state. This comes barely 5 years after hemp was federally legalized with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.
An attorney representing the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association, Alex Carver, explained that the regulations going into effect would essentially kill most of the industry. This is one of the 2 industry groups that have sought to temporarily block the regulations, the other being the Tennessee Growers Coalition.
Legal counsel for the state’s Department of Agriculture Mr. Joshua Minchin acknowledged that while hemp businesses in the state would experience significant damage when the regulations went into effect, they were still required by law. He cited a 2023 Tennessee law, which mandated first-time regulations like requirements for business owner licenses and restrictions on age of purchase, noting that it was right to also enforce testing requirements on hemp products that were vaped and/or smoked.
These products produce an intoxicating effect similar to that of cannabis, which is still illegal in the state of Tennessee.
While this can be agreed upon, what the 2023 regulation actually needs remains an issue. Officials at the agriculture department argue that the law necessitates that all consumer hemp products have their THCA concentration levels tested, with any product that has more than the imposed limit being rejected. They add that the manufacturers of these products as well as retailers that sell them will also be referred to law enforcement.
On the other hand, the hemp industry’s counsel asserts that the agriculture officials are acting ultravires in establishing the rules, highlighting that THCA isn’t an illicit substance in the state. The lawyers also accuse the officials of outlawing a product that lawmakers in Tennessee have never voted to criminalize.
Tennessee Growers Coalition attorney Alex Little maintains that the 2023 law cannot be interpreted to apply to pure hemp products. Little explains that hemp products can be sold in different forms, including gummies and dried flowers, noting that the flowers aren’t derivatives.
Nationwide industry actors like Software Effective Solutions Corp. (d/b/a MedCana) (OTC: SFWJ) will be hoping that the ruling passed doesn’t stifle the firms operating in Tennessee.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Software Effective Solutions Corp. (d/b/a MedCana) (OTC: SFWJ) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/SFWJ
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