Nebraska Attorney General Ramps Up Delta-8 THC Crackdown
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has launched a renewed effort to rid the state of unregulated ... More delta-8 THC products, including warning letters sent to more than 100 Omaha retailers last week.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers last week ramped up the state's crackdown on businesses selling delta-8 THC products, saying the retailers are breaking state law. The attorney general's office sent cease-and-desist letters on Thursday to 104 vape shops, dispensaries and gas stations, ordering them to stop selling products containing delta-8 THC and other intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids.
'Today, we have taken legal action against every single store in the Omaha Metro area,' Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said at a Thursday press conference, according to a report from Nebraska Public Media. 'The stores have 30 days to comply with our terms and take these products off their shelves, like other stores have, or we will sue.'
Closely related to delta-9 THC (more commonly known simply as THC), the compound primarily responsible for the classic marijuana 'high,' delta-8 THC is found in small amounts in cannabis plants. Delta-8 THC can also be produced by altering hemp cannabidiol (CBD), which was legalized nationwide with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.
Delta-8 THC, which has psychoactive effects described as similar to but less intense than delta-9 THC, is the active ingredient in hundreds of unregulated intoxicating products, such as snacks, vapes, beverages and more. Delta 8 products have appeared on store shelves at retailers across the country, including convenience stores, smoke shops, and other businesses.
The Nebraska attorney general's office has filed lawsuits against 15 retailers for selling delta-8 products since 2023. A dozen of the retailers have accepted settlement agreements, while the remaining three cases are still pending.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers
The retailers in the Omaha metropolitan area that were sent cease-and-desist letters last week were given 30 days to remove delta-8 and other intoxicating hemp products from their shelves. Those who fail to comply face further action, potentially including criminal prosecution.
'We promised that we would escalate our fight and today are fulfilling that promise. Operating in Nebraska's largest city does not immunize you from the law,' said Hilgers, KOLN television news reported. 'These stores are selling harmful and unlawful products despite being on notice. Because of that, once litigation ensues, we will seek penalties to the fullest extent of the law and will refer for criminal prosecution when necessary.'
'We gave them plenty of warning,' Hilgers added, according to a report from the Nebraska Examiner. 'We thought criminal prosecution was not the right tool. They have decided not to change. Now criminal prosecutions are on the table as well.'
While last week's warning letters were limited to shops in the Omaha area, Hilgers promised to expand the crackdown on intoxicating hemp products across the Cornhusker State.
'We're gonna go after every single store selling these products in the state of Nebraska,' Hilgers said. 'As we go over the coming weeks and months, our efforts are only going to accelerate and escalate until we have the entire industry covered.'
Hilgers is supporting legislation (LB 316) that would ban all hemp-derived cannabinoids other than CBD, similar to a bill passed by the Texas Senate last week. If the measure passes, the attorney general said he will reconsider his enforcement strategy.
Nebraska's hemp industry is opposed to the proposed ban on hemp-derived cannabinoids. Joseph Fraas, the owner of G&G Smoke Shops in Omaha and Lincoln, told the legislature's Judiciary Committee in January that he employs 18 people. A Nebraska delta-8 ban, he said, would 'severely damage' his business.
'If our businesses survive this ban, it is likely that most of our employees and their families will not,' he said at the hearing. 'Not only that, but this bill will destroy millions of dollars in economic activity.'
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