New Jersey is arguing that its new law restricting the sale of hemp products is a legitimate response to a "public health crisis" caused by items with intoxicating hemp flooding the market, and it wants a judge to toss a lawsuit aimed at blocking the law.
In the 42-page filing, the state rejects claims lodged by hemp businesses that the state's law violates the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which legalized hemp farming and distribution. The federal law was written to allow for local regulations like New Jersey's new hemp law, the state's attorneys argue in the new filing.
"Congress, federal agencies, and many states have thus been trying to implement policies and laws to address the 2018 Farm Bill's unintended effect of permitting products that are essentially as intoxicating as marijuana to flood the national market and endanger the health and safety of people in recent years," the filing says.
The new filing comes four months after the Legislature passed a bill regulating the sale of intoxicating hemp products in New Jersey, a response to years of hearing concerns that children were easily buying hemp products.
Read more at New Jersey Monitor.