A Wyoming business owner with five stores that sell hemp-derived products says he’s ready to file a lawsuit on behalf of his business and about 80 others selling hemp products if Senate File 32, which attempts to restrict the sale of certain hemp products, becomes law.
Sam Watt, who owns Platte Hemp Co., has five stores across Wyoming with 34 employees that sell a variety of hemp-derived products. He said Wyoming has about 80 stores in all that sell hemp, and that many of their owners have already talked to him about leading the charge on a lawsuit, if SF 32 becomes legal.
The bill, now sitting on Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk awaiting his signature, is an attempt to stop what proponents of the bill say is the addition of synthetic, psychoactive THC isomers, such as Delta-8, to hemp-derived products. The legislation was prompted by reports that a couple of teenagers wound up in an emergency room in Cody after consuming a Delta-8-laced product.
Watt told Cowboy State Daily that he’s not against regulations and actually wants them for the industry to prevent bad actors, but he’s concerned that SF 32 paints the hemp industry with too broad a brush and will criminalize processed hemp products that are under the 0.3% limit for all THC isomers.
He feels that such products should be legal under the umbrella of the 2018 Farm Bill, which had set a 0.3% limit on THC in hemp.
Watt said most hemp in the United States is being processed at large centers in states like Florida and California, where it is common practice to add additional food-related ingredients to create things like gummy bears or chocolate bars that make hemp products more enjoyable to consume.
He fears that SF32 will criminalize even those additions, which have nothing to do with adding intoxicating substances. If the law is interpreted to include food additives, that would wipe out most, if not all, of the products he sells — products that he and his customers believe are beneficial for managing conditions like anxiety and PTSD.
“Most of my customers are well above 40 years of age,” he added. “And they are steaming mad about this bill.”
Closing A Loophole
But advocates of SF32 say that the bill is needed to close a loophole that’s allowing some processors to add intoxicants, both synthetic and natural, to hemp products that are being sold across the Cowboy State.
Among these advocates is Uinta County’s prosecuting attorney, Loretta Howieson Kallas, who also represents the Wyoming County Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.
She said her office has had to deal with “truckloads” of questionable products that are exploiting a loophole created by the Farm Bill, which says hemp products containing 0.3% percent or less of THC isomer Delta-9, the main active ingredient in marijuana, are legal.
The Farm Bill does not contemplate other isomers of THC, which also have psychoactive properties. It also didn’t anticipate that chemists could use reactions with acidic ingredients to naturally produce more THC isomers from hemp oil than were there when the hemp oil was first inspected.
“Across the state of Wyoming, we have various businesses that are intentionally targeting individuals to facilitate the distribution of what they’re calling legal marijuana,” she said. “They’re here in Evanston. We have Wild Cannabis, it is a business that advertises and provides for the fact that they are selling legal marijuana, and that is specifically through the Delta-8 derivative.”
Under Wyoming’s current laws, it is difficult to prosecute these people for that, Kallas said. Wyoming needs a bill that will clear up the ambiguity that’s been created by the Farm Bill for hemp products where producers are adding synthetic, psychoactive isomers of THC besides Delta-9.
“The statute is dealing with both deregulating individuals who would add this to their products, as well as facilitating the prosecution of individuals,” she told lawmakers during committee testimony about the bill.
Vegan gummies, muscle rubs and seltzer drinks — there are now a variety of hemp-derived products on the market. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Gummies are Platte Hemp Co.'s N.o 1 seller. The owner, Sam Watt, fears that Senate File 32 will completely outlaw all of the hemp products he sells, even if they contain 0.3% or less of all THC isomers. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
There are even hemp products manufactured for pets in peanut butter flavor. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Why Not Raise The Age Limit To 21
Senate Judiciary Committee Vice Chair Wendy Schuyler, R-Evanston, was among lawmakers asking during committee deliberations whether it would be better to approach the issue by implementing an age limit on the sale of all hemp-derived products.
Schuyler said she has had a number of constituents with arthritis and other complaints tell her they have found relief through these hemp products that they weren’t able to find elsewhere. They are concerned they will no longer be able to get the products in Wyoming.
Their fear is that could leave them relying on less-than-truthful online suppliers for a product that alleviates their day-to-day pain and makes it possible for them to get around better.
“So that was partially why I had voted against this bill,” Schuyler said. “I do agree we need something in place, and maybe this is where we need to be.
“But I was thinking about bringing an amendment, maybe saying something to the effect that just like we do with our cigarettes and what not, that if you’re not 21, you can’t even go in there, let alone buy anything.”
The concern, however, was that since it is already illegal to possess any isomers of THC under other provisions of Wyoming law, adding that particular language to SF 32 could create the impression that THC-added hemp products are OK for those over 21.
Large Economic Impact
Isomers of THC do occur naturally in all of the plants that are in the Cannabis family of plants, which includes hemp.
In hemp, however, all the THC elements are meant to be below 0.3%, per the Farm Bill. But, since the farm bill specified only the Delta-9 isomer, entrepreneurs with a chemistry background have exploited that as a loophole, and it’s already created a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S.
In Wyoming, Watt said his five stores alone have paid more than $500,000 in sales tax revenue to Wyoming. At an average of $100,000 in sales tax revenue per store, that suggests tax revenue across the state from the many hemp products already being sold that SF 32 will outlaw would be in the neighborhood of $8 million.
Watt said he feels like Wyoming is tilting at windmills with this bill, given that marijuana is already legal in all of the states around Wyoming.
“(Wyoming lawmakers are) still stuck in the ’80s,” he said. “Which, at one point in time, I was, too.”
Watt said research is already showing some of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. Results of a patient survey available online at the National of Institutes of Health suggests cannabis products could be beneficial for treating things like anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain relief. Cancer patients have also reported anecdotally that it is helpful for nausea and improving appetite after chemotherapy.
Watt hopes Gordon will consider the potential medical benefits as he’s deciding whether to sign the bill.
“I’m serious on medical marijuana,” Watt said. “But we do educate our community (customers), and we do everything by the book, state and federal. I test everything, and I’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars out on testings.”
Watt said he uses the tests to verify that total THC content is below the federally mandated level.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
