Judge Says Alaska Hemp Rules Requiring Limiting Hemp Product Sales to Dispensaries Are Constitutional

A federal judge last week ruled that the Alaska Department of Federal
Resources did not violate the U.S. Constitution with regulations on the
sale of intoxicating hemp products that were issued in 2023, KTOO reports.
In the order, Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon found the plaintiffs – the
Alaska Industrial Hemp Association – “identified no authority that supports
their suggestion that the State’s amended hemp regulations conflict with
the 2018 Farm Act’s definition of hemp” and that the “regulations are
consistent” with the Farm Bill.

The rules require that intoxicating hemp products be sold only through
licensed cannabis retailers in the state, and products sold outside of the
state-approved retailers are considered illegal.

“On their face, the amended regulations provide that any hemp retailer –
regardless of its location – may not offer products intended for human or
animal consumption that contain delta-9-THC. Plaintiffs present no evidence
that the regulations treat out-of-state hemp retailers any differently from
their in-state counterparts. Moreover, the State’s differential regulation
of the marijuana market does not render the amended hemp regulations
discriminatory. The effects of those regulations on out-of-state hemp
retailers cannot be compared to those effects on in-state marijuana
retailers or other participants in the marijuana market, for those entities
are not similarly situated.” — Reardon in the order

In an email, Assistant Attorney General Kevin Higgins, who represented the
state in the lawsuit, told KTOO that the Agriculture Division “was
motivated by public safety concerns when it took measured action to
regulate an emerging industry.”

“This was an easy case to make,” he told KTOO, “which is probably why the
plaintiffs didn’t file an opposition to the motion for summary judgment.”

Alaska legalized cannabis for adult use in 2014.