Hemp Businesses Seek Emergency Court Order Ahead of Illinois Restrictions, Warning of Closures (Chicago, IL) — An Illinois hemp trade association and five businesses have asked a federal judge to block new state restrictions before they take effect Nov. 12, arguing that the changes would cut off interstate suppliers and force established retailers and distributors out of business.
The Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association and its co-plaintiffs filed their lawsuit and emergency request Nov. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. They are seeking a temporary restraining order followed by a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of provisions they contend violate the Constitution.
The lawsuit names Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the heads of five state agencies responsible for administering or enforcing the law. It challenges how the Illinois Hemp Act would move products now sold through hemp businesses into the state’s more restrictive cannabis licensing system.
For the businesses bringing the case, the approaching deadline presents an immediate question: whether they can continue selling much of their existing inventory.
Among the plaintiffs are the company behind CBD Kratom, a Roscoe Village specialty retailer, a Springfield CBD shop and two Bridgeview distributors. Their court filings describe potential layoffs, unsellable merchandise and lease payments that would remain due even if their businesses closed.
At the center of the dispute are changes to Illinois’s definition of hemp and a limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container for finished consumer hemp cannabinoid products. The law also shifts the concentration standard from delta-9 THC alone to total THC, including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.
The plaintiffs argue that products exceeding those limits would become cannabis under Illinois law, subjecting them to a system that restricts production, sourcing and sales to licensed cannabis businesses.
That creates two barriers, their attorneys contend. Out-of-state manufacturers would lose access to Illinois customers, while existing hemp businesses within Illinois would need cannabis licenses they say are unavailable to them.
“Effectively, it will build a protective economic barrier around Illinois and its existing licensed cannabis market,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in their supporting memorandum.
Their principal argument rests on the dormant Commerce Clause, a constitutional doctrine limiting state measures that discriminate against interstate commerce. They contend that Illinois’s combined hemp and cannabis rules would protect existing licensed businesses from competition while excluding suppliers whose products remain lawful under federal law.
The complaint also points to a difference between state and federal implementation dates. According to the filing, Congress delayed similar federal hemp restrictions until Dec. 11, 2026, while Illinois retained its Nov. 12 deadline.
The businesses say the consequences would reach beyond products commonly associated with recreational intoxication. Their filings identify affected inventory that includes tinctures, beverages, edibles, topicals and pet products.
MNG 2005 Inc., the Missouri corporation behind CBD Kratom, says it operates 14 Illinois stores employing approximately 100 people. According to the complaint, its manufactured hemp products come from outside Illinois. The company warns that enforcement could require consolidation, inventory liquidation, substantial losses or a costly relocation of manufacturing operations.
Zada Ventures, which operates Cubbington’s Cabinet in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood, says the loss of legal inventory and sales would force the shop to close after operating since 2020.
In Bridgeview, OPT Holdings Technologies says the restrictions would force it to shut down its hemp distribution business. Another plaintiff, Green Street 79, which operates as Green Street Distro, says it serves more than 350 Illinois retailers and more than 100 outside the state. It projects losing half its annual revenue and laying off most of its employees.
Those are the companies’ predictions in support of emergency relief, not findings by the court.
The association says it represents 250 companies employing more than 5,000 people. The complaint estimates that Illinois hemp industry sales exceeded $500 million in 2025.
A separate part of the lawsuit raises an equal protection challenge involving access to cannabis licenses. The complaint acknowledges that lawmakers authorized 45 additional infuser licenses through a social equity experience lottery, but says the plaintiffs do not qualify and could not obtain licenses before the November deadline.
The businesses’ attorneys acknowledge in their memorandum that public health and safety are legitimate government interests. They argue those concerns could be addressed through age restrictions, packaging and labeling requirements, potency disclosures and independent laboratory testing without excluding existing businesses from the market.
Their emergency motion asks the court to stop the challenged reclassification and THC container limit, along with related restrictions on interstate purchasing and sales, while the constitutional case proceeds.
The plaintiffs are represented by Chicago law firm Tabet DiVito & Rothstein. Their immediate request is for court intervention before Nov. 12, arguing that a later victory would offer little relief to businesses already forced to close.
Hemp Businesses Seek Emergency Court Order Ahead of Illinois Restrictions, Warning of Closures
