Delta-8 legal for now, appeals court holds up Hometown Hero side of injunction

The appellate court has upheld the temporary injunction for delta-8 sales in Texas after DSHS appealed the decision, meaning that delta-8 is legal to sell until the further ruling.

Hometown Hero posted on youtube and messaged advocates late Thursday afternoon about the information.

Lucas Gilkey stated, “The court has granted a request for temporary orders. These are the rules that are in effect throughout the life of the lawsuit. Based on the court’s ruling today, delta-8 hemp derived cannabinoids are legal to sell and possess in Texas for the indefinite future. The court has officially decided to uphold the injunction despite the state’s appeal. This is extremely good news for us because the court is signaling they believe we will win this lawsuit.”

Gilkey then explains what happens next. He further states the court will consider the state’s appeal, which will take six months to a year. During that time everyone will be able to sell during that period of time before we can have the final hearing. The lawsuit has to go through the appellate court, which can take quite a while.

“The previously mentioned January 28 date, which was the next hearing date prior to the appeal, no longer has any relevance to the cases now in the appeal process,” according to Gilkey. Further noting that appeal case must be completed before the final hearing takes place.

Cannabis attorney Andrea Steel noted to TCC about the case that, “Violations of open government can harm every citizen and every business across the board and it’s important everyone understands the facts of what took place.  Though the legality of Delta-8 seems tantalizing, the crux of this lawsuit is foundational to the rule of law in a ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people.’ Everyone deserves better, especially our Veterans.”

All of this comes after the week prior the state appealed the temporary injunction, automatically making the injunction void until the appeal court ruled on the appeal notice, as done today.

“The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provide a mechanism to the Attorney General’s Office to automatically suspend a temporary injunction duly entered by a co-equal branch of government. This forces the Plaintiffs to then seek redress with the appellate court. As long as this rule stands in Texas, the state of Texas and its agencies can ignore any injunction covering any subject matter entered by any trial court in the entire state of Texas simply by filing a notice of appeal and invoking the rule with the correct requesting language. This is not how due process works in America,” cannabis attorney Chelsie Spencer told Texas Cannabis Collective on Monday when the injunction was put out last week.

Even with this in place, it is possible that police departments may continue arresting people for what they perceive to be marijuana. From what TCC could gather from different attorneys, officers are arresting for what they consider probable penalty group 2A illegal products. This is exactly the situation Texans faced when hemp was legalized and police departments said they could not easily tell the difference between hemp and marijuana.

To add to the confusion, there are products on the market labeled as delta-8 that are delta-9 and above the legal limit. It’s not that people shouldn’t have delta-9 access, it’s the issue of buying a product that isn’t labeled for what the customer intends to purchase. If the product turns out to not be delta-8 and is in fact delta-9 THC, there won’t be a legitimate argument in court if a person is caught with the substance. The only recourse a person may have is to use the Texas deceptive trade practice act (DTPA) to recover losses incurred from the fraudulent sale.

As more information on a court date arrives, TCC will inform our subscribers of our email list and social media handles of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Reddit.