Wild Hemp®
The Inside Story of How Wild Hemp® Won the Smokable Hemp Ban Lawsuit
On August 23rd, 2021, smokable hemp products officially became legal to manufacture and sell
in Texas. Many never noticed since the smokable hemp ban hadn’t been put into enforcement
yet. Nevertheless, an invisible battle brewed between one company and the Texas Department
of State Health Services, which ultimately decided the future of cannabis in Texas.
After the 2018 Farm Bill passed, legalizing
hemp across the United States of America,
an entirely new market emerged after decades of prohibition. At the that time, Global
Tobacco® was the largest manufacturers of
tobacco in Texas. Since tobacco manufacturing is a legacy industry with decreasing
sales, Global Tobacco® was actively attempting to innovate
and expand their product portfolio.
When they heard the news that hemp was legalized, they saw
this as their golden opportunity to completely revolutionize the
smokables industry. Under the brand Wild Hemp®, they created
the first cigarette styled hemp pre-roll in the world, called the
Hempette®. This product spread like wildfire across America
becoming the first nationally recognized brand associated with
the smokable side of the hemp and CBD industry.
This success was soon met with struggle when
the State of Texas passed regulations that attempted to ban the manufacturing and sale of
smokable hemp in Texas. Fortunately for the
hemp industry, the parent company of Wild
Hemp® put forth litigation to challenge this
law, which ultimately became the case Crown
Distributing LLC, et al. v. Texas Department
of State Health Services, et al. Crown Distribution LLC is the
distribution arm of Global Tobacco® and is owned and run by
the same management.
While Wild Hemp® was challenging this case in court, Texas
granted a temporary injunction allowing manufacturers and
distributors of smokable hemp to continue operations while
the case was being tried. If this injunction wasn’t granted, all
retail and wholesale sales of hemp would have had to cease in
Texas, and Wild Hemp® would have had to move their entire
manufacturing base from Texas to a cannabis friendly neighboring state such as Oklahoma. Hundreds of Texans work in
manufacturing smokable hemp, mostly for the Hempette®, and
would have to either lose their jobs or relocate to continue making money. Moreover, many Texas farmers who are investing in
and growing hemp would have a harder time selling their crops,
since there would be no local market for smokable hemp. This
would have put farmers years behind other states in hemp and
cannabis. Finally, Texas would lose out on millions of dollars in
future tax revenue and economic growth.
The trial took over two years from putting forth the litigation to
ultimately hearing the final verdict from Judge Lora Livingston.
Not only did this take time, but it also took over $400,000 in
legal fees mostly paid by Wild Hemp®. They also spent millions
of dollars on a warehouse in Oklahoma before the injunction
was granted, so that they could make sure their manufacturing
continued no matter what happened.
Though the cost was steep, Wild Hemp® continued in their success and were able to grow their Hempette® to even higher sales
and international recognition. Wild Hemp® have also expanded
their smokable hemp line to include hemp wraps, disposable
CBD vapes, and CBD cigarillos. With this victory under their
belt, Wild Hemp® is excited for their future and are eager to
develop and design more smokable hemp products in Texas.
To learn more about Wild Hemp® or the Hempette®, you can
email us at hello@americajuiceco.com, call us at +1 888 968
8273, or visit www.wildhemp.com.