US (CA): Cheech and Chong sue to overturn hemp ban

Members of the hemp industry—including Cheech and Chong's cannabis company—filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to overturn new California regulations that outlaw most consumable hemp products in the state, including those containing any intoxicating cannabinoids derived from the plant.

The suit says the rules, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), are based on a faulty declaration of "emergency" and come after officials failed to effectively implement hemp regulation legislation that was enacted in 2021.

First unveiled earlier this month, Newsom's new emergency ban won official approval from California's Office of Administrative Law on Monday and took effect immediately. The rules prohibit hemp products with any "detectable amount of total THC," while hemp products that don't contain THC are limited to five servings per package and may only be sold to adults 21 and older.

Filed in state court on behalf of industry trade group U.S. Hemp Roundtable and a handful of individual businesses, the new lawsuit alleges that regulators' "inaction over the last three years hardly serves as a sufficient basis for declaring a sudden emergency and circumventing the meticulous procedures of regular rulemaking."