Hemp Wire

GREAT LAKES / UPPER MIDWEST — July 24, 2026 — A federal judge's injunction this week allowed a small group of Ohio breweries to resume selling hemp-derived THC and CBD beverages nearly four months after the state banned them outright, while hundreds of miles away in Missouri, hemp businesses sued to stop their state from following Ohio's lead.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio issued the injunction in favor of plaintiff businesses that sued over Senate Bill 56, the law that banned most "intoxicating" hemp statewide starting March 20. Among the plaintiffs is Cleveland and Columbus-based Saucy Brew Works, which announced the ruling on Instagram: "BIG NEWS: the vibes can continue on." The relief does not extend statewide. Cincinnati-based Fifty West Brewing Company, which was not part of the lawsuit, remains barred from selling its THC seltzer and says doing so now would expose it to prosecution as an illegal marijuana distributor — even though the same product sells legally a short drive away in Kentucky.

SB 56's final version banned most intoxicating hemp but originally carved out drinkable THC and CBD products, mirroring the timeline of federal hemp restrictions. Gov. Mike DeWine used a line-item veto to strike that beverage carve-out, saying it would cause confusion, and an effort to force a statewide referendum on the veto fell short of the required signatures in March. A legislative override vote would need to happen before Ohio's session ends in December.

In Missouri, a coalition that includes the Missouri Hemp Trade Association, Wisconsin-based manufacturer Lifted Liquids Inc. and St. Louis-based retailer MNG 2005 Inc. filed a federal lawsuit July 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, seeking to block House Bill 2641 before it takes effect November 12. The law, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on April 23, would fold hemp-derived cannabinoid products into Missouri's existing marijuana regulatory framework, effectively limiting sales to licensed dispensaries. The complaint argues the law is unconstitutionally vague, discriminates against interstate commerce, and is preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill's protections for transporting legal hemp products across state lines — and notes that Missouri has already issued the maximum number of marijuana licenses allowed under state law, leaving hemp businesses with no path to compliance. Named defendants are Kehoe, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Department of Health and Senior Services Director Sarah Wilson; the state has not yet responded in court. Rep. Dave Hinman, the bill's Republican sponsor, called the lawsuit a "Hail Mary" that would not change the outcome.

Elsewhere in the region, Illinois operators spent the week absorbing compliance guidance tied to Senate Bill 3222, the cannabis and hemp omnibus Gov. JB Pritzker signed June 12. Legal advisory Dentons published a client alert flagging that intoxicating hemp products — including Delta-8, Delta-9, THC-P and HHC — are already barred from sale to anyone under 21, and that starting in November those products will be regulated under the state's Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, requiring child-resistant packaging, stricter labeling and limits on marketing that could appeal to minors.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa had no new hemp beverage legislation, rulemaking, enforcement action or litigation surface in the past week. In Minnesota, two dates are approaching: the state Office of Cannabis Management's window for petitioning to approve new cannabinoid products or categories closes July 31, and a provision of the cannabis omnibus bill Gov. Tim Walz signed in May takes effect August 1, opening dual hemp-and-cannabis licensure that the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Jessica Hanson, described as a bridge for hemp operators facing the federal deadline.

That federal deadline sits over every state in the region. A provision that took effect when Congress passed a stopgap funding bill last November redefines hemp so that finished consumer products — including beverages — containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container no longer qualify as legal hemp, starting November 12, 2026. In the Senate, Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Rand Paul of Kentucky have proposed a Hemp Safety Enforcement Act that would let states opt out of the federal cap and regulate hemp products under their own frameworks; Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has since withdrawn as a cosponsor, and the bill has no scheduled floor vote. Absent Senate action, the litigation now underway in Ohio and Missouri, and the compliance scramble in Illinois, are likely previews of what other Great Lakes and Upper Midwest states will confront as the November deadline approaches.