Nov. 5: ILHAA files federal TRO (1:26-cv-13799) to block Illinois Hemp Act before Nov. 12; challenges 0.4 mg total-THC rule

Hemp industry plaintiffs asked a federal judge in Chicago on Nov. 5 to freeze Illinois's intoxicating-hemp rules before they take effect Nov. 12, filing an emergency temporary-restraining-order motion and a companion complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The case is docketed as Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association et al. v. Raoul et al., No. 1:26-cv-13799. The complaint and emergency motion, both stamped filed Nov. 5, name Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the directors of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, IDFPR, State Police, Department of Revenue, and Department of Public Health as defendants in their official capacities. Counsel of record include Michael I. Rothstein and Nathaniel G. Goodman of Tabet DiVito & Rothstein LLC.

What the plaintiffs want paused

The emergency motion asks the court, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, for a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction. The proposed order would stop the state from enforcing two pieces of the Illinois Hemp Act (Public Act 104-0463, codified at 410 ILCS 707) that redefine many currently sold hemp-derived cannabinoid products as "cannabis" that may be sold to consumers only through licensed dispensaries.

One challenge targets the Act's redefinition of products with total THC above 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis. The other targets the Act's 0.4 milligram total-THC-per-container limit for final consumer hemp cannabinoid products. The complaint and motion repeatedly describe that limit as 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container—not a 0.4 percent THC threshold. That distinction matches the Illinois Department of Revenue's Informational Bulletin FY 2027-04, which states that beginning Nov. 12 any consumable or topical product with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container will no longer meet Illinois's definition of hemp and may be sold to consumers only by IDFPR-licensed cannabis dispensaries.

Why the calendar is tight

The Hemp Act provisions at issue are scheduled to take effect Nov. 12, 2026, the complaint says, citing 410 ILCS 707/999. Plaintiffs argue Illinois kept that date even after Congress delayed most of the parallel federal hemp-definition change to Dec. 11, 2026, creating a roughly one-month window in which their products would remain federally lawful in most of the country but illegal under Illinois's new definitions if the Act goes live.

Revenue's bulletin, issued Oct. 14 and still posted on tax.illinois.gov, confirms the state's plan: Illinois intends to begin Hemp Act enforcement on Nov. 12 regardless of the federal Dec. 11 delay. The complaint attaches that bulletin as Exhibit A and quotes the same Nov. 12 enforcement signal.

Commerce Clause theory and industry figures in the filings

The lead constitutional claim is that the Hemp Act violates the Commerce Clause by shutting out-of-state cultivators, manufacturers, and sellers out of the Illinois retail market for products that remain federally lawful hemp until at least Dec. 11, while also forcing Illinois farmers, infusers, distributors, and retailers off non-dispensary shelves. The complaint asks for declaratory relief and an injunction against enforcing the redefinition and the 0.4 mg container limit as cannabis under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.

Plaintiff Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association describes itself in the complaint as a nonprofit trade association representing 250 companies in Illinois's low-potency hemp industry that employ more than 5,000 people. The complaint alleges the industry generated sales in 2025 exceeding one-half billion dollars. Those figures appear as plaintiff allegations in the court papers; they are not independent state audit findings.

Business plaintiffs named alongside ILHAA include MNG 2005, Inc.; Green Street 79 LLC; Life Element, LLC; OPT Holdings Technologies LLC; and Zada Ventures LLC, doing business as Cubbington's Cabinet. The memorandum in support of the TRO argues that without relief before Nov. 12 the named companies face irreversible business harm, including layoffs and shutdowns, because there is no practical market for products that meet the new 0.4 mg-per-container ceiling.

Local coverage

Block Club Chicago reported Nov. 6 that the trade group is seeking the TRO and preliminary injunction against Raoul and other officials one week before the Act takes effect, framing the fight around hemp-derived THC beverages that have been sold outside dispensaries. The outlet quoted the complaint's Commerce Clause language and noted that a separate federal intoxicating-hemp limit is still scheduled for Dec. 11. NewsChannel20 carried a same-day local write-up summarizing the Nov. 5 filing and the plaintiffs' claims that the Act would close Illinois markets to out-of-state hemp sellers and devastate in-state farmers and retailers.

What has not happened yet

As of this writing, the public record reviewed by Hemp Law Watch shows the complaint (Document 1), the emergency TRO motion (Document 3), and the supporting memorandum (Document 4) filed Nov. 5. No judicial order granting or denying the temporary restraining order appears in the materials retrieved for this report. The caption on the filed PDFs leaves the assigned district judge blank as "Case No." on the face page while the PACER-style header stamps the matter as 1:26-cv-13799.

Hemp Law Watch is not predicting how the Northern District of Illinois will rule. The filings ask for emergency relief before Nov. 12; until a court acts, Illinois's published enforcement date and the 0.4 mg total-THC-per-container rule remain the state's stated plan, per Revenue Bulletin FY 2027-04.

Context for readers already following Illinois hemp

Hemp Law Watch has previously covered the Nov. 12 Illinois timeline, including provisional manufacturer licensing deadlines and Gov. JB Pritzker's Day One Agenda call for Congress to let the federal intoxicating-hemp ban take effect without further delay. This item is the industry's federal-court challenge to the state statute itself. It does not change the separate federal Dec. 11 total-THC container limit, and it does not resolve whether Congress will extend or rewrite that federal rule.

Bottom line for operators and retailers

If no injunction issues, Illinois's Hemp Act definitions—including the 0.4 mg total-THC-per-container line—are still scheduled for Nov. 12 under state law and Revenue guidance. The TRO papers ask a federal judge to pause that enforcement. Readers should treat the lawsuit as pending litigation, not as a stay already in place, and should verify any court order against the Northern District of Illinois docket for case 1:26-cv-13799 before changing compliance plans.