Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July. Let’s get you caught up on an interesting story out of our home state, Indiana.

Indiana Hemp Companies File Suit

Last Friday (June 28th) several companies brought a lawsuit against the state of Indiana, which recently passed sweeping hemp legislation. After a long and arduous process spanning years, Governor Eric Holcomb signed SB 516 in May. Most components of the bill were seen as favorable by hemp producers and advocates. However, one highly debated point of the bill was its language making smokable hemp banned. CBD flower (bud) is a very hot industry right now and there is some incredible demand. Dreem Nutrition and several other plaintiffs, including Midwest Hemp Council, Inc, make the point that the ban is counterintuitive to the Farm Bill Act of 2014, which allows the cultivation of industrial hemp for academic research or under an agricultural pilot program (the latter being applicable here). The introductory statement of the lawsuit states:

This is a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a recent state statute that conflicts with federal law by impermissibly narrowing the federal definition of hemp and criminalizing the manufacture, financing, delivery, or possession of smokable hemp despite federal laws declaring all hemp derivatives to be legal. CASE NO. 1:19-CV-2659

So what exactly is smokable CBD flower? Like it’s familial cousin, marijuana, hemp flower looks similar once harvested. Many in the industry have coined it as “CBD flower”. CBD flower can yield many of the same benefits we’ve shown before for CBD and can be enjoyed in a similar manner to marijuana without the “high” feeling. There are no psychoactive or hallucinogenic effecgt in CBD flower. In fact, a lot of people say smoking CBD can actually take you down from a marijuana THC high. CBD’s (and other cannabinoids) most core benefit is promoting homeostasis. CBD flower consumption is a great way to experience the entourage effect.

The wild thing about the bill Governor Eric Holcomb signed was it ensured vapable CBD oil products were still allowed. So one can vape oil which is derived from the same hemp plant where the buds come from. I know this sounds a little backwards. Now you can clearly see why businesses are taking this into their own hands with the lawsuit as they have already invested heavily in CBD flower production and future sales projections. It will certainly be interesting to see how this lawsuit turns out. There are similar discussions happening across the country on the state level, such as in North Carolina.

Hemp Crate Co Take

Unfortunately, the entire discord with the legalization of hemp is pretty common for emerging industries. The legislation almost never gets it correct on the first try. However, it is important to note that the Supremacy law of the Constitution was created just for this very scenario when a State interprets something different than a Federal law.

State courts are bound by the supreme law; in case of conflict between federal and state law, the federal law must be applied. … No matter what the federal government or the states might wish to do, they have to stay within the boundaries of the Constitution. Article VI, Clause 2, US Constitution

We wholeheartedly agree with and support the companies bringing this lawsuit in our home state of Indiana. Hemp Crate Co will continue to keep an eye on the situation as it not only affects where we live, but also could set a precedent for future State vs Federal interpretations on hemp law.

If you are interested in trying CBD flower and don’t know where to start we highly suggest giving our good friends at Tweedle Farms a hard look. Their quality and customer service is fantastic.

You can read the lawsuit in it’s entirety here.