Last month, the District Attorney announced that she would begin arresting shop owners and raiding businesses that sell products with Delta-8 and Delta-10. Our lawsuit contends that the District Attorney lacks authority to arrest these shop owners or seize their property because products containing Delta-8 and Delta-10 derived from hemp plants are “hemp products” under Georgia’s hemp law, namely O.C.G.A § 2-23-3.
Under Georgia law, “hemp” is defined as a cannabis plant, and all of its extracts, derivatives, isomers, and cannabinoids, that contain less than 0.3% Delta-9-THC, the ingredient that makes people “high.” “Hemp products,” in turn, are products containing cannabinoids and extracts from hemp plants, as long as the products have less than 0.3% Delta-9-THC. Hemp and hemp plants are excluded from Georgia’s criminal laws outlawing marijuana.
The products our clients were selling contained Delta-8 and other cannabinoids that were extracted from hemp. In that sense, they are like products containing CBD, which the District Attorney acknowledges are legal. As a result of the District Attorney’s actions, our clients have had to stop selling Delta products and are facing severe business losses.
We believe the public deserve clarity on the law and that the plain language of Georgia’s hemp laws clearly allow the sale and possession of products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8. We look forward to giving our clients their day in court and protecting their businesses and livelihoods.
