Breaking news: Charges Likely to Be Dropped in TN “Candy Crush” CBD Operation
This just in: Charges filed in Rutherford County, TN against over 20 merchants of CBD products are likely to be dropped because authorities cannot prove that the CBD contained in them was derived from illegal marijuana rather than lawful industrial hemp. As I recently reported about “Operation Candy Crush”, I had a frustrating conversation with the prosecutor in charge of the the case shortly after the charges were filed. (One of my client’s lawful products was confiscated in the seizure.) He had no idea about industrial hemp, the Source Rule, or even about CBD. (The Sheriff contended at the press conference following the bust that people buy CBD “to get high”.) It sounds like the prosecutor has taken the time to learn the law, something that should have happened long before he and other law enforcement officers raided these businesses and formally charged innocent people of a crime.
You can watch a short news clip on this development here.
Rod Kight is a lawyer based in Asheville, NC. He is licensed in North Carolina and Oregon and represents legal cannabis businesses. You can contact him by clicking here.
BEAUTY!!! It’s sad that business owners such as myself – and those in TN know more about CBD/Hemp Law than law enforcement. My customers were even chiming in, saying that THEY knew more than the Sheriff’s office – and of course they did.
Thank you, as always, for keeping us up to date on developments in this arena. We appreciate everything you do!
Beauty, indeed! Thanks, Roxanne. I hope that this serves as a “teaching moment” for law enforcement, although it shouldn’t have come at the price it did to law abiding citizens. (Or, as the prosecutor called them, “Foreigners”, since many are apparently of middle eastern origin. Shameful.)
Finally! They got smart and read the law they are sworn to uphold.
Yes, I agree. Too bad they didn’t read the law before the raid.
Law enforcement needs to get educated. I own a winery selling hemp seed oil infused wine and I still get the questions on whether it’s legal or if it will get you high.