A federal judge temporarily prevents 10 companies from following Ohio’s new hemp law

A federal judge on Monday temporarily prohibited county prosecutors in Ohio from prosecuting 10 companies that are challenging Senate Bill 56, an anti-marijuana and anti-hemp bill that was signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine at the end of last year.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Helmick, who serves in the Toledo division of the Northern District of Ohio, issued a temporary restraining order that blocked enforcement of the law for at least the next two weeks, adding that he would schedule a preliminary injunction hearing in a future order.

Perrysburg-based attorney Andy Mayle is representing Titan Logistics Group, Hopportunity Holding Company, Saucy Seltzer, Appalachian Girls, Modern Distribution, Niche Beverage, the Hemp Collect, Slightly Elevated, Mellow Fellow, and Muffins, the 10 companies that filed the lawsuit against the state of Ohio.

“Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that Senate Bill 56 violates the dormant Commerce Clause by prohibiting out-of-state companies from offering their products for sale unless they source and distribute those products solely in Ohio,” Helmick wrote in his decision.

He also wrote that without the restraining order, Senate Bill 56 would harm the companies that filed the lawsuit.

“While it is true that Senate Bill 56 applies the same definition of hemp and attendant restrictions to both in-state and out-of-state companies, only companies that source, manufacture, and distribute their hemp-derived products within Ohio may obtain a license permitting them to do so,” he wrote. “The state of Ohio cannot circumvent the unconstitutional character of these restrictions simply by limiting the number of in-state companies that may obtain a license.”

While agreeing with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office’s argument that the regulations are necessary to protect public health, Helmick said that the “enforcement of a likely unconstitutional statute does not serve the public interest.”

“Finally, I conclude defendants have not shown enjoining the enforcement of Senate Bill 56 will cause substantial harm to others, as the state of Ohio remains able to enforce other state laws regulating the safety of products offered for sale within the state,” he said.

Dominic Binkley, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, told The Blade in Toledo that Wilson and his staff are currently reviewing Helmick’s decision and thinking about their next steps after appealing the preliminary injunction to the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals.

Not surprisingly, Mayle celebrated Helmick’s decision, telling The Blade that he and his clients “never stopped believing in the American legal system and worked to achieve justice.”

“We are thrilled for our clients and their employees,” Mayle told the news source. “We are glad that the court saw this for what it is — an unconstitutional scheme thrown into S.B. 56 at the 11th hour.”

The Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association, a hemp industry advocacy group, also said that the result of this lawsuit would end up in thousands of hemp stores being reopened in Ohio.

“We know the battle is not over yet, as the TRO is a temporary measure,” the group said, according to the news source. “We will remain steadfast in supporting our members and continuing to advocate for their right to provide Ohioans with access to hemp products of their choice.”

Sandusky County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeremiah Ray previously issued a preliminary injunction allowing Seattle-based Cycling Frog to continue selling hemp products in Ohio.