Federal Judge Denies Virginia Hemp Businesses’ Bid to Block New THC Cap

A federal judge in Roanoke on August 14, 2026 denied seven Virginia hemp businesses’ request to block the state’s new two-milligram THC cap on hemp products, rejecting motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction one day before the restrictions took effect on August 15, 2026.

U.S. District Judge Robert S. Ballou of the Western District of Virginia found the businesses, led by named plaintiff Northern Virginia Hemp & Agriculture, had shown neither a likelihood of success on their constitutional claims nor irreparable injury, and that the balance of equities and the public interest favored the state. The restrictions, enacted through the state budget legislation Governor Abigail Spanberger signed on June 29, 2026, eliminate the “25-to-1 ratio,” an exception that allowed hemp products to exceed two milligrams of total THC per package if they contained at least 25 times as much CBD.

“Because Plaintiffs have not demonstrated either a likelihood of success on the merits or irreparable injury if HB 30 becomes effective, and because the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in favor of Defendants,” Ballou wrote in his memorandum opinion, the motions “are DENIED.”

The seven plaintiffs, businesses that process, manufacture, distribute, or retail hemp-derived products containing THC, filed suit on July 31, 2026, arguing the loss of the ratio exception would render most of their existing inventory unlawful to sell, inflict losses ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to more than $1.4 million in affected inventory, and potentially expose them to criminal liability once products legally held as hemp fell within Virginia’s statutory definition of marijuana. Ballou heard testimony from five business owners at an August 12, 2026 hearing in Roanoke.

Barbara Biddle, president of the Cannabis Small Business Association and owner of District Hemp Botanicals, said in a statement: “We are incredibly disappointed with today’s news. The judge himself acknowledged that this was rushed legislation, leading to complications and unintended consequences. We are calling on legislators to convene a special session to address the gap in access for consumers, protect businesses from bankruptcy, and reinstate the previous definition of hemp.”

Travis Lane, owner of Northern Virginia Hemp & Agriculture, said in a statement that if small businesses are pushed toward bankruptcy while a state-regulated cannabis market is built for 2027, “voters deserve to remember who made that choice.” A spokesperson for Spanberger had earlier defended the restrictions, saying untested and highly intoxicating products had flooded Virginia through a loophole in state law, with inadequate protections for children and few tools for law enforcement. The denial resolves only the request for emergency relief; the businesses’ underlying constitutional challenge remains before the court.

What the Ruling Actually Decided

The businesses pressed three constitutional claims, and Ballou rejected each on the current record. On the takings claim, he found the legislation effects no physical appropriation of inventory and does not eliminate all economically beneficial use of the plaintiffs’ property, noting that many of the businesses maintain unaffected product lines and that courts in Wyoming, Iowa, and South Dakota have uniformly found similar hemp-THC restrictions to be exercises of state police power rather than compensable takings.

On due process, Ballou wrote that the budget bill moved through a conference committee whose hemp provisions surfaced in mid-June 2026, but that a generally applicable law does not require individualized hearings before enactment. He noted that a lobbyist for the Cannabis Small Business Association had avenues to communicate the industry’s position to budget conferees. On equal protection, he found hemp retailers and future marijuana retailers are not similarly situated, since they operate under distinct licensing, testing, tracking, and enforcement regimes, and he pointed to a 2022 Joint Commission on Cannabis Oversight task force report recommending tighter restrictions as a rational basis.

On irreparable harm, the judge accepted that the businesses face substantial economic injury but held that calculable losses, including lost sales and inventory value, can be remedied with money damages after a final judgment. On the criminal-exposure theory, he found no evidence any defendant had threatened prosecution, though he wrote that the amended definitions raise genuine questions about the legal status of existing inventory. Businesses can dispose of noncompliant product, he noted, which is an economic loss rather than an irreparable one.

The THC Thresholds Now in Play

• Two milligrams of total THC per package: the new ceiling for any product produced or sold as hemp in Virginia, effective August 15, 2026.
• 25-to-1: the CBD-to-THC ratio exception, created by the General Assembly’s 2023 hemp legislation, that the budget bill eliminated.
• 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis: the federal definition of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, unchanged by the Virginia ruling.
• 0.4 milligrams of combined total THC per container: the new federal ceiling enacted by Congress on November 12, 2025, scheduled to take effect November 12, 2026.

The Road to Virginia’s Two-Milligram Cap

Virginia’s 2023 hemp legislation first imposed the two-milligram package limit and created the 25-to-1 exception alongside it. The 2026 changes arrived through the budget compromise the General Assembly approved in June 2026, the same package in which Virginia enacted regulated adult-use cannabis sales. Beyond the THC cap, the legislation transfers oversight of regulated hemp products from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority beginning July 1, 2027, and establishes a retail registration system for hemp products under the authority.

What Happens Next in Virginia

Enforcement of the cap is already live. According to the Cannabis Control Authority’s guidance, the agency begins regulating hemp products this month, with separate legislation empowering it to take enforcement action against unlicensed cannabis and hemp businesses and to issue violation notices, cease-and-desist orders, and civil penalties. A public tip line, 1-844-WEED-TIP, is accepting reports of suspected illegal activity.

The federal floor then tightens: the 0.4-milligram container limit enacted in November 2025 takes effect November 12, 2026, and could slide to at least December 11, 2026 depending on a pending continuing resolution, a delay Congress has been negotiating through its funding bills. After that, the adult-use buildout begins: the Cannabis Control Authority may accept marijuana establishment license applications starting February 1, 2027, may begin issuing licenses on May 1, 2027, and regulated retail sales launch July 1, 2027. The authority has already been collecting public input on the rules for that launch.

For the seven plaintiffs, the path forward runs through the same Roanoke courtroom: their constitutional claims against the cap survive the denied injunction, with any monetary remedy dependent on a final judgment after trial.