A federal judge ruled Monday in favor of 10 hemp beverage makers, allowing them to sell their intoxicating hemp products for 14 days. WCMH reports. The order by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Helmick, who sided with the businesses’ argument that the state’s hemp ban likely violates federal law, could be extended.

According to the decision, 420 Beverage, Your Highness, Opportunity, Saucy Seltzer, Appalachian Girls, Modern Distribution, Niche Beverage, The Hemp Collect, Slightly Elevated, Mellow Fellow and Muffins will be allowed to continue selling their products in the state for two weeks.

This is the third judge to rule against the state’s ban on hemp-derived THC. In April, Judge Jeremiah S. Ray called prohibition “inherently discriminatory” in its ruling in favor of Seattle, Washington-based THC drink maker North Fork, maker of Cycling Frog. That same month, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Brown overlooked with Happy Harvest and Get Wright Lounge, which argued that the ban violates federal law by classifying hemp-derived THC products as cannabis, not hemp, and by regulating them under the state’s adult cannabis program.

While Helmick’s ruling may be delayed, on Nov. 12, new federal rules go into effect ban THC products derived from hemp. The law recriminalizes hemp-derived THC and redefines hemp as “grown for the use of the whole grain, oil, cake, nut, husk, or any other non-cannabinoid ingredient, derivative, mixture, preparation, or seed production” and “grown for the purpose of producing a hemp intended for plant consumption or other products intended for human consumption therefrom.” grown from seeds that do not exceed” 0.3% THC.

An O’ahu, Hawaii business is suing the state over hemp laws that went into effect earlier this year, Aloha State Daily reports. The federal lawsuit claims the new rules have made it illegal for Lance Alyas, founder of O’ahu Dispensary and Provisions, LLC, to sell about 80% of the products that were previously allowed.

The suit claims the regulations place an undue burden on overseas commerce and that the state’s efforts to seize or destroy the property violate due process.

In 2020, state lawmakers passed a bill to align its hemp laws with those codified in the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which allowed hemp products with 0.3% delta-9 THC; however, in 2021, the state Department of Health (DOH) passed regulations defining hemp based on total THC concentration, rather than the 0.3% delta-9 threshold. In the lawsuit, Alyas claims the deviations from federal law criminalize products that would be legal under federal standards.

Last year, Hawaii lawmakers passed a bill that would require all hemp distributors to register with the DOH’s Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation starting in 2026. Under the law, businesses are required to register with the agency to sell any hemp products, and registered sellers who sell products that don’t meet their state testing standards can be fined up to $00 per 1 are suspended and their products destroyed by law enforcement.

Alyas claims that since the company was founded in 2023, it has been the target of “sting operations” by law enforcement, even though all of the products it sells meet the federal definition of hemp.

State Attorney General Anne Lopez and DOH Director Kenneth Fink have asked to dismiss the case, arguing that Alyas has no credible claim that he has been harmed by laws or regulations.

Last year, federal lawmakers passed a bill that will effectively ban most hemp products now available due to the 2018 farm bill. The new federal rules exclude products that include THC “synthesized or produced outside” of the cannabis plant with more than 0.3% THC and “any hemp-derived intermediate cannabinoid product that is marketed or sold as an end product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use.” from the federal definition of hemp. These rules take effect on November 12.