TORRINGTON – CinD’s CBD and Vape, a local cannabidiol (CBD) retailer, along with other hemp retailers and agriculture organizations are claiming Wyoming’s recent ban on hemp products, claiming the ban is unconstitutional. 

CBD is a chemical in the Cannabis sativa plant, which is also known as hemp or cannabis, according to WebMD, and over 80 chemicals, or cannabinoids have been found within the plant.

“Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most famous ingredient in cannabis. But CBD is obtained from hemp, a form of the Cannabis sativa plant that only contains small amounts of THC. CBD seems to have effects on some chemicals in the brain, but these are different than the effects of THC,” WebMD reported.

Cindy and Justin Arnold, of the Torrington shop, which opened in March of this year, stumbled across the business opportunity.

The couple was hesitant to embark on the adventure of selling CBD since CBD and THC have the same molecular formula of 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and two oxygen atoms, as mentioned in WebMD. 

Cindy and Justin both expressed, to them, CBD appeared to be too much like THC until they spent some time learning about the products and their chemical components. 

“We didn’t know any of it. We were dead set against it,” Justin said as his wife and partner, Cindy, nodded in agreement.

“A prescription form of CBD is used for seizure disorder/epilepsy. CBD is also used for anxiety, pain, a muscle disorder called dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses,” according to WebMD. 

After legislation was passed in 2018 making it legal to sell hemp and hemp products in the US, many gas stations and smoke shops began selling hemp products and in 2024, SF0032 Hemp-limitations on psychoactive substances was introduced in the 2024 session. 

The bill, sponsored by the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee, noted under current law, hemp and hemp products may be produced, processed, and sold in Wyoming.

“This act prohibits the addition of synthetic substances or other additives to hemp and hemp products that are produced, processed, or sold, among other things,” the bill reads. “This act also prohibits the sale of hemp that contains more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or other psychoactive substances. For purposes of this act, the prohibition also applies to psychoactive analogs and isomers of THC. The act specifies that naturally occurring THC substances contained in the cannabis plant and delta-8 THC are listed as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act,” the bill continued to explain. 

The bill went into effect on July 1, making it illegal for the local shop to sell any hemp product.

“I had one lady come in first thing this morning and ask for CBD to help her menopause,” Cindy said, tearfully. “I had to turn her away.” 

Shelves in the store are bare as CinD’s and fellow small businesses in the Hemp Community of Wyoming fight to stay open.

“We put in what some people call a ‘stay’, but it’s a restraining order,” Justin said. “That will block the bill so we can sell until the judge decides. If we get the injunction, it blocks everything.”

The couple noted nearly 20 different plaintiffs are listed on the injunction or restraining order which includes retailers like CinD’s, hemp producers, manufacturers, and lobbyists. The injunction refers to the State of Wyoming, governor, attorney general, Wyoming Department of Agriculture, 21 county and prosecuting attorneys, including Goshen County Prosecuting Attorney, Eric Boyer, as well as the district attorneys in Laramie and Natrona counties as defendants in the injunction.

“[Business looks] very bleak,” Justin said.  

There is no prediction of time before the courts rule whether or not the ban is unconstitutional. 

“It’s in the state’s best interest to just grant injunction quick,” Justin explained. “There are so many upset people. The legislation mishandled the whole bill. The one that wrote the bill, didn’t do enough research, and didn’t talk to anybody in the field or in the industry.”

“Even in our little [hemp] community that we’ve got, two of them (plaintiffs) are actually growers and not just store owners,” Cindy explained.

Members of the Hemp Community of Wyoming retained Domonkos and Thorpe Law Office in Cheyenne with assistance from Philip Snow of MC Nutraceuticals and Justin Swanson of Bose Law.

Both Cindy and Justin stressed the money coming into their store for the sale of CDB products stayed within Goshen County. Unfortunately, according to the store owners, their shelves will remain bare until a ruling is made to determine if the ban illegally narrows the definition of help, interferes with interstate transportation, and is overly broad and vague, as claimed in the injunction.