6 January 18 - 24, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” What that translates to, basically, is any product with 0.3% delta-9 or less is consid- ered legal hemp, and anything with more than 0.3% delta-9 is considered illegal mari- juana. Several states, including South Caro- lina and Texas (where marijuana is still illegal), adopted their own hemp laws, which defined hemp almost identically to the 2018 Farm Bill. It was language like this that made people think it was OK to dabble in other derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids and isomers of the cannabis plant. So that’s what people like Sims and Weg- ner did. They dabbled, first with delta-8. The states didn’t seem to like that. In 2021, the South Carolina attorney general’s office issued an opinion deeming delta-8 illegal in the state. The opinion said that federal and state hemp laws were only meant to legalize delta-9 at low levels, not to legalize other forms of THC, even though these laws spe- cifically legalized “all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers” and more. (Delta 8 is present in cannabis plants in small amounts, but it can be — and is — synthesized chemi- cally from other compounds in the plant.) The South Carolina attorney general said the law “does not create an express excep- tion for delta-8 and or any other THC iso- mer.” Acting on that legal opinion, the Colum- bia, South Carolina, police and South Caro- lina Law Enforcement Division barged into Sims’ shop and confiscated what they “per- ceived to be marijuana.” Sims and his team say there was no marijuana on the premises, just lawful hemp products. As of this month, the website for Sims’ business is still opera- tional, but stories like these exemplify the confusion over state and federal hemp laws. And these stories are cropping up across the country as lawmakers prepare a new version of the Farm Bill, which could include changes in the hemp portion. In Kansas, where marijuana is also ille- gal, police raided several hemp shops in April 2022 in search of delta-9, delta-8 and delta-10. Delta-10 is another form of THC that is said to produce a more energetic high. It’s sometimes referred to as a super sativa. The owner of two CBD American Shaman locations in the state told NBC affiliate KSNT that police seized around $20,000 worth of product. CBD American Shaman also has locations in North Texas. The cops in Kansas also raided a shop called CBD Sa- cred Leaf, taking about 80% of its product, worth an estimated $10,000–$15,000. These raids came just months after a De- cember 2021 opinion from the Kansas Attor- ney General’s Office that said delta-8 is a Schedule 1 controlled substance and is un- lawful to possess or sell in the state. That opinion set two exceptions, however. It said delta-8 was legal when made from industrial hemp as long as it didn’t exceed 0.3% total THC. That means the delta-8, delta-9, delta-10, delta-whatever combined can’t ex- ceed 0.3% in any given product, even though Kansas hemp laws specifically limit only delta-9. The Kansas police didn’t issue any cita- tions or make any arrests as part of the raids. But not everyone is so lucky. Michael DeAngelo in Pennsylvania was arrested after his shop was raided in August last year. According to NBC affiliate WTAJ, several laws in Pennsylvania legalized all de- rivatives, cannabinoids and isomers of hemp, except for delta-9, which can’t exceed 0.3%. State police wouldn’t comment on the raid, only pointing to three state laws that mention THC being illegal. However, none of those laws mentions the substance com- ing from legal hemp, according to the news station. The police took nearly all of DeAn- gelo’s product, leaving behind only delta-8 flower and CBD, a compound in cannabis that users say has medical benefits but doesn’t produce a high. Even though police recommended he shut it down, DeAngelo’s Our CBD Hollidaysburg shop is still open. However, he’s worried he will have to shut down if the confiscated product is not re- turned. In Ohio, where weed was only recently legalized, a law enforcement task force raided four hemp shops in April 2022. The police claimed the shops were selling prod- ucts that illegally contained THC and hash- ish. Three of the shops were part of a chain called VIP Smoke Shop. The police seized vape cartridges they suspected contained il- legal THC, as well as invoices, bank records, duplicate checks and ledgers, according to the Dayton Daily News. Jeff Cornwell, the attorney for VIP Smoke Shop, told the publication that the products the police took “are the same prod- ucts that are sold on the shelves of every other gas station store that sells hemp-de- rived products.” He said his clients haven’t broken any laws. So far, no one has been ar- rested or charged as part of the Ohio raids. These stories mirror raids on North Texas hemp shops over the last year, raids that seem to be getting more aggressive. On the morning of Oct. 20, Kyle Brown got a call from one of his employees saying the cops were at his Killeen vape shop, Venom Vapors. The fire marshal, city build- ing inspector and code enforcement person- nel were there too. They had gotten a tip about narcotics sales and crime at the busi- ness. They managed to find some minor viola- tions. For example, extension cords were plugged in where they shouldn’t have been. But the cops were more interested in some of the products the business was selling, namely delta-8, delta-9 and THCa, another compound found in cannabis. THCa is the precursor to delta-9. It’s not psychoactive on its own. But when it’s heated— smoked, for intance — the THCa turns into delta-9, which can get users high. The legality of THCa is up for debate, but hemp businesses are still selling the stuff just about everywhere you look. Brown and his sister, Michelle Sayers, opened Venom Vapors in 2017 and moved to their current location in 2020. Many of the products at Venom Vapors come with a certificate of analysis (COA), which lists their contents and shows they are compliant with state law. A detective told Brown he scanned the COA for one of the shop’s delta-8 dab prod- ucts and that it showed there was too much THC for it to be legal. “That just isn’t the case,” Brown told the Observer in late Octo- ber. The police claimed the COA showed the product had around 80% THC. Brown tried to explain that the COA showed it was within the legal limit of delta-9 THC and that the 80% was actually the delta-8 con- tent. “That’s when things kind of went sideways,” the shop owner said. “They didn’t take the certificate of analysis for what it was. They instead turned it around and used it against us, which was very alarming.” Brown said the police used the COA to obtain a search warrant from a judge. He thinks that had the COA been presented ac- curately, the police wouldn’t have been able to obtain the warrant. The Killeen police confiscated all of the delta-8 dabs, some delta-8 and delta-10 flower and some THCa prerolls. They also took over $36,000 from the business as evidence, as well as eight electronic gambling machines they said were being used for illegal gambling. Brown claims the machines are compliant with state law. No one has been charged as part of the raid, but Brown is worried where the case will go. He was told that the seized products would be sent off to a lab to be tested, but he’s worried about the method of testing. Law enforcement mostly uses a method of testing called gas chromatography, which uses heat. This heat may skew the results of the tests. If a THCa product is tested, for ex- ample, all of that THCa could be converted into delta-9. If that happens, the product will likely test over the legal limit of delta-9 THC. Stories like Brown’s are cropping up in North Texas as well. One of the first North Texas raids took place in Garland and involved the Drug En- forcement Administration. The Garland Po- lice Department and a DEA task force searched bee Hippy Hemp Dispensary on June 7, 2023,arresting the store’s owner and a longtime employee – Christopher Charles Fagan and David Lee Dranguet – for alleg- edly selling products with too much THC. The raid took place after undercover police bought THCa products at the shop. All of the shop’s product was seized, as well as a tiny home that sat just outside the store, cash, numerous personal items and even the bee Hippy mascot outfit. The store’s owner claims all of the seized product was lawful hemp. The shop was shut down temporarily but has since re- opened. Fagan and Dranguet had to post $45,000 in bonds to be released from jail. In August, police raided the Little Elm hemp shop Happy Hippies. On Aug. 29, owner Jonathon Pollak got a call from the Little Elm Police Department, who told him he needed to go to his shop but wouldn’t say why. When he arived, his shop was swarming with police. Pollak said the DEA was there, too, but the agency wouldn’t confirm or deny its involvement, instead directing the Observer to the Little Elm Police Depart- ment, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Pollak found police going through his product. The search warrant said the police were there to look for THC. Pollak main- tains that all of his products come from hemp and are compliant with state law. Happy Hippies was selling delta-8, delta-10 and THCa, as well as other merchandise, such as clothing. According to Pollak, the police seized about $45,000 worth of his product. The police also searched Pollak’s home after he gave them consent to do so. At his house, Pollak said the police tried to use a scare tactic by telling him, “We’ve got you right now on about three state jail felonies. You’re looking at about five years.” Then, ac- cording to Pollak, the cops asked him, “How are you going to help us?” Pollak said the po- lice told him that they’d contact him in a couple of weeks with some money to start making purchases from wholesalers. To Pol- lak, it sounded like the police wanted him to be an informant. He declined to help, and now worries he’ll be arrested. He said the raid has essentially ruined his life. He had to temporarily shut down his shop, which meant he didn’t have Unfair Park from p4 >> p8 “They didn’t take the certificate of analysis for what it was. They instead turned it around and used it against us, which was very alarming.” –Kyle Brown
