Arkansas Attorney General Certifies Law Restricting Hemp-Derived THC Products

“These drugs honestly have been always illegal, but we brought clarity to the law and we brought reinforcement to the law.”

By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) on Wednesday formally cleared the way for the state to enforce a law regulating hemp-derived products following the conclusion of litigation challenging an earlier state measure banning the sale of these products.

Act 934 of 2025 updated a 2023 law that prohibited the sale and distribution of certain hemp-derived products, such as Delta-8 and THC-O, according to a press release from Griffin’s office.

The 2023 law was challenged and blocked by a federal judge who said it likely was preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill, which prohibits laws that interfere with the right to transport hemp in interstate commerce.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction last summer, allowing Arkansas to implement its ban on these products. Within three months, the state’s Department of Finance and Administration seized more than 6,000 products, according to the release.

The 2025 law was to take effect once Griffin certified that a final judgment had been issued in the litigation. The Republican attorney general signed that certification Wednesday at a news conference in his office.

“It has been a long road to get to this point, but I am proud of my team for successfully defending the 2023 law, and I am happy to finally certify this Act,” Griffin said in a statement.

The hemp-derived products were often packaged as gummies and drinks that were marketed to children and sold online and in convenience stores without an age requirement to purchase, Griffin said.

Sen. Tyler Dees, a Siloam Springs Republican who sponsored both laws, said Wednesday that this issue is important to him as a father of three young children. Dees said he heard from lobbyists and concerned parents when the legislation was debated, and sided with “protection of children over the profit of peddlers of these illegal drugs.”

“These drugs honestly have been always illegal, but we brought clarity to the law and we brought reinforcement to the law,” he said. “And that’s why I’m so excited today that Arkansas is now safer for all of our communities because of the action we’ve been able to take.”

Arkansas is among a number of states trying to regulate hemp products, including Alabama, Indiana and Missouri.

Arkansas voters legalized medical marijuana in 2016, and a ballot measure that would have also allowed recreational marijuana was rejected in 2022.

This story was first published by Arkansas Advocate.