Georgia Drug Crimes Archives

Our Firm Gets Temporary Restraining Order Against the South Fulton Chief of Police, Prohibiting Further Raids of Our Client’s Hemp Store

Written by Tom Church on June 25, 2024. Posted in Federal Crimes, Georgia Drug Crimes.

Last Friday morning, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order for our clients, who own a smoke shop in the City of South Fulton, prohibiting the South Fulton Police Department from conducting further raids against our clients, who own a smoke shop in the city called Air Freshener Depot. The judge also granted our request for an order prohibiting the city finance director from keeping our client’s store closed after moving to revoke their business license. This is the fifth time our firm has convinced a judge to issue an order prohibiting law enforcement and other government officials from taking adverse actions against hemp stores based on allegations that the stores are selling marijuana.

In the early afternoon of May 1, 2024, masked and armed officers from the South Fulton Police Department’s Narcotics and Gang Unit carried out a search warrant for our client’s store, a local smoke shop selling hemp and THC products as well as tobacco and nicotine vapes. The police seized a large amount of our client’s hemp and THC products, including Delta-8-THC, THCV, and THCA products, and $14,000 in cash. Most shockingly, the police also arrested three of our client’s employees and charged them with felony marijuana trafficking. That’s the same law that prosecutors charge serious drug dealers under.

On May 9, 2024, merely 8 days after the raid and arrests, the City revoked our client’s business license, forcing them to close the store. Their license was suspended immediately, and they were not given a hearing to dispute the police’s false accusations that they were selling marijuana.

Our clients then hired our firm based on our record of success in fighting back against law enforcement officials who raid hemp stores based on their misinterpretation of Georgia’s hemp laws. We promptly filed a lawsuit against the Chief of Police in South Fulton, who oversaw the raids of the store, and the City’s finance director who revoked our client’s business license. We also demanded a hearing with the City Manager of South Fulton.

On June 20, 2024, we presented the City Manager with evidence that our clients did not break the law, including lab results showing that our client’s products were completely legal. While the City provided some lab results showing that a few of our client’s products were slightly over the THC limit, most of the products passed, and we were able to explain how the police’s improper storage techniques could have caused the other products to become non-compliant. We also presented photos of other stores in the same city selling the same exact products, including one across the street from a police precinct.

The next day, we got a major win in court. After a contested hearing on our motion for a temporary restraining order against the Chief of Police and the City’s finance director who suspended our client’s business license, a Fulton County Superior Court judge granted our request and issued an order forcing the City to allow our client’s to re-open their store. Critically, the judge also denied the Chief and finance director’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit.

Click on the following links to see the media’s coverage of our case on:

Fox 5, Atlanta News First (CBS46), WSB (ABC 2)

As a result of our advocacy and the court’s ruling, our client’s will be able to remain open while we continue pressing their case before the City Council and, if necessary, before the courts. If the City Council votes to keep our client’s license revoked, we will be fighting them in court on our request for an injunction banning any future police raids or adverse actions by the city against our clients.

We have the experts, experience, and extensive knowledge of the science and laws governing the hemp industry in Georgia. If you are a hemp retailer, distributor, or manufacturer, and you are seeking sound legal advice or aggressive representation, contact our firm.

The Future of THCA Products as “Hemp”

Written by Tom Church on June 25, 2024. Posted in Federal Crimes, Georgia Drug Crimes.

Lately there has been a lot of discussion in the hemp industry regarding “THCA” products, such as THCA flowers and vapes, and whether these popular products fall under the definition of “hemp” and are thus legal. Law enforcement and other government officials have tried to argue that these products are illegal marijuana, even when they contain less than 0.3% Delta-9-THC.

Delta-9-THCA, commonly referred to as THCA, is tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, a precursor to Delta-9-THC that is produced naturally by the cannabis plant, including hemp and marijuana. It is chemically distinct from Delta-9-THC. Over time, however, or if exposed to heat or dry conditions, the THCA in a product will degrade into Delta-9-THC.

Another controversy surrounding THCA products is whether federal and state hemp laws require testing consumable hemp products for THCA in addition to their Delta-9-THC content, the combined metric referred to as “Total THC.” There is also debate as to whether the amount of THCA in a product must be counted under the 0.3% limit of THC, which determines whether a product is a legal hemp product. A lot of cannabis tests, for example, use heat that automatically converts all the THCA in a sample into Delta-9-THC. So, a product that has 20% THCA and 0.1% Delta-9-THC will definitely test over 0.3% Delta-9-THC if tested using heat.

We don’t agree that “Total THC” is the proper metric for testing products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids, especially since THCA and Delta-9-THC are chemically distinct cannabinoids. Others disagree. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), for example, has weighed in on the legality of THCA several times. In June 2023, the DEA issued a letter regarding the legality of Delta-8-THC, HHC, THCA, and other lesser known cannabinoids. The DEA concluded that synthetically-derived Delta-8-THC is illegal, a conclusion roundly rejected by scientists and courts, and that THCA is too.

Specifically, the DEA asserted that THCA must be included in tests and included in determining whether a product’s Delta-9-THC is under the 0.3% limit. The DEA issued another letter in May 2024 reiterating its belief that THCA must be included in the 0.3% Delta-9-THC limit when testing for hemp compliance. Under their methodology, almost all THCA products on the market right now would be considered illegal.

Fortunately, the DEA doesn’t get to make law–Congress does that. The DEA has previously already tried to assert that Delta-8-THC is illegal, noted above, and lost in the case AK Futures v. Boyd Street Distribution. In that case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the DEA cannot pass rules or take positions on the legality of certain substances if those positions are contrary to the plain language of the laws passed by Congress. Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalizes “all derivatives, extracts, and cannabinoids” in cannabis, that includes Delta-8-THC. The same logic should apply to THCA and other cannabinoids derived from hemp.

Retailers, distributors, manufacturers, and consumers should be aware of the brewing legal controversy surrounding THCA products. Already, there have been over a dozen raids in Georgia involving THCA, with police bringing felony marijuana trafficking charges against business owners as if they were drug dealers. And because the GBI and other law enforcement agencies use heat in their cannabis tests, these products are routinely testing “hot,” or non-compliant. It’s important to have an expert explain to courts and juries that these testing methodologies are flawed.

If you are in the hemp business and are looking for advice or for help fighting against unlawful government overreach or raids of your business, contact our firm immediately. We have helped dozens of small businesses in Georgia and are ready to help you.

DEA Proposes Downgrading Marijuana to Schedule III; GA Governor Signs New Hemp Regulations

Written by Tom Church on May 1, 2024. Posted in Federal Crimes, Georgia Drug Crimes, Uncategorized.

Cannabis leaves

April 30, 2024, was a landmark day for the cannabis industry and cannabis consumers in Georgia and throughout the rest of the country, as government officials announced major changes to the federal and state laws that govern cannabis, including marijuana and hemp.

At the federal level, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced its proposal to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III controlled substance. As it currently stands, marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, just like heroin and methamphetamine, meaning the federal government does not recognize any medicinal applications. Federal criminal laws also carry harsh penalties for possession and distribution of Schedule I substances, including long mandatory minimum prison sentences.

As a Schedule III controlled substance, marijuana will be treated like Tylenol with codeine and other prescription medication. That might resolve a dispute between the DEA and Georgia pharmacies that wish to sell medical THC oil. Reclassification to Schedule III will also increase research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana. And finally, marijuana companies will have an easier time accessing banking services.

Critically, possessing and distributing marijuana will still be a federal crime even if marijuana is reclassified to Schedule III. Rather than facing a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison, however, ten years would be the maximum. As such, we will likely see far fewer federal prosecutions for marijuana offenses, which have already been declining for several years now as the DEA has targeted other drugs.

Marijuana will also remain illegal in the states where it is currently illegal, though little is expected to change in states that have legalized recreational or medical marijuana. While the DEA’s new proposal is not quite a revolution, it is a substantial reform, though it is unclear at this time whether President Biden will follow up with additional pardons and sentence commutations for people convicted of marijuana offenses.

On the same day, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 494, a bill creating a regulatory framework for the purchase and sale of consumable hemp products like Delta-8, Delta-10, and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. The legislation is significant as it creates rules and regulations for a market of cannabis products in Georgia that are psychoactive. Essentially, it is legal to get “high” in Georgia with these products, even as marijuana remains illegal in the state. Our firm has covered the biggest changes coming in SB 494.

If your or a loved one has been charged with felony offenses relating to the distribution or sale of marijuana or hemp products, contact our firm. We’re ready to fight for you.

Attorney Tom Church Testifies Before Georgia Senate; Helps Kill Anti-Hemp Bill

Written by Tom Church on April 1, 2024. Posted in Georgia Drug Crimes, TV Appearances, Uncategorized.

Leading up to the final days of the legislative session in Georgia’s General Assembly, Attorney Tom Church was called on to testify before the Senate’s Committee on Regulated Industries regarding a Hemp Bill that would effectively shut down hundreds of hemp retailers across the state of Georgia.

The bill, House Bill 1322, would have done some good things, like imposing age limits and advertising restrictions on certain hemp products, but it would have created more problems than it sought to solve.

Among other things, it would have imposed extremely low milligram quantities for products containing Delta-8 and other hemp extracts, and it would have included Delta-8 and other extracts under the definition of “THC,” which right now only refers to Delta-9-THC, the cannabinoid that gets users “high.”

Attorney Church testified regarding the unlawful raids that have been conducted across Georgia against lawful businesses that sell hemp products. As the only attorney in the State who has obtained injunctions against law enforcement officials prohibiting such raids, Attorney Church lent a unique perspective to the Committee.

Video from Georgia General Assembly Website (Full video here)

After Attorney Church’s testimony, the Committee voted on whether to advance the bill further. Fortunately, the vast majority of senators voted to “table” the bill, effectively killing it for this legislative term. Other, hemp-friendly bills were still pending in the legislature, and Attorney Church has consulted with legislators regarding some of those bills.

If you or a loved one has been targeted or raided by law enforcement based on the sale of hemp or hemp products, contact our firm today. We are ready to fight for you.