Arkansas

Arkansas is the country’s clearest example of a state successfully defending a comprehensive intoxicating-hemp ban against Farm Bill preemption challenges. Act 629 of 2023 (originally SB 358), sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees and signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in April 2023, took two aggressive steps at once. First, it classified as Schedule VI controlled substances the full slate of hemp-derived intoxicants: delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, delta-6a, delta-10a, and any cannabinoid produced through synthetic chemical conversion from hemp-derived precursors. Second, it changed how the 0.3% delta-9 THC threshold is measured — from dry weight of the plant (federal standard) to concentration in the finished product — closing the loophole that let 5mg or 10mg hemp delta-9 gummies qualify as legal hemp under the Farm Bill’s dry-weight math. Four hemp businesses led by Bio Gen LLC sued in federal court, naming Gov. Sanders, AG Tim Griffin, and 28 prosecuting attorneys as defendants. In September 2023, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement, finding the plaintiffs likely to succeed on Farm Bill preemption grounds and calling parts of Act 629’s language “[confusing] even an exceptionally intelligent reader.” Arkansas hemp-derived intoxicants continued to sell freely under the Farm Bill from September 2023 through July 2025. Then, on June 24, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed in Bio Gen LLC v. Sanders (No. 23-3237). The three-judge panel held the 2018 Farm Bill does not preempt state authority to ban intoxicating hemp derivatives — the Farm Bill’s protection of interstate transport does not require states to permit in-state sales. The panel also dismissed Gov. Sanders and AG Griffin as improper defendants under Ex parte Young, holding neither has “a sufficiently specific method of enforcement” of Act 629 to be sued. Actual enforcement is handled by Arkansas Tobacco Control, a DFA agency, and by county prosecutors. AG Griffin publicly declared enforcement was resuming, giving retailers “a few weeks” to clear inventory. SB 533 (2025) followed by imposing a strict 1mg total THC per container cap — meaning even the narrow category of “compliant” hemp products under Act 629 is capped far below what neighboring states permit. One live question: THCA flower is not explicitly named in Act 629 but Arkansas applies a total-THC interpretation that captures convertible cannabinoids. At a Arkansas House Rules Committee meeting shortly after the Eighth Circuit ruling, an AG’s office attorney indicated a separate legal challenge specific to THCA is anticipated. Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment 98 (2016) operates as a separate dispensary-only channel for cardholders, unaffected by Act 629. For the federal cliff on November 12, 2026, Arkansas is one of the least-disrupted major markets — the intoxicating hemp retail market has been effectively gone since July 2025, and Section 781 will formalize what Arkansas has already achieved through Act 629.