ALLEN, Texas — Hemp distributors in a North Texas city are taking legal action after they say their businesses were raided earlier this year.
On Thursday, the Hemp Industry Leaders of Texas, their head lawyer David Sergi and business owner Sabihe Kahn, filed a lawsuit against Allen, Texas, its police department and several others for allegedly infringing upon the group's legal rights.
The lawsuit claims the city, police, Allen police chief Steve Dye, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner all violated Kahn's Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by searching his shop without valid reasoning.
In late August, the suit claims 70-year-old Kahn's hemp shop, called Allen Smoke & Vape, was raided by police, who procured a search warrant with help from the DEA. Other HILT businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb were also allegedly impacted.
Kahn reportedly spent two days in jail after the raid, where Sergi believes he was treated "like the kingpin of a drug cartel, despite hemp being legal."
Background information
Earlier this spring, the Allen police reportedly told several CBD and vape shops they were in violation of Texas Health and Safety Code 443, selling products they claimed were marijuana, made with more THC than permitted by law.
This code says hemp products do not need to be tested after manufacturing if they have previously been tested, and if they don't contain more than 0.3% of Delta-9.
Sergi said Kahn's products all received Certificates of Analysis meaning there was no reason to raid his business.
"They sought testing that changed the chemical structure of the products that rendered it illegal," the suit says. "The questionable testing standards combined all THC into a Delta-9 concentration and baselessly sought a search warrant that was overbroad and vague."
Then on June 25, the lawsuit claims HILT members, including Khan, were given DEA subpoenas, pushing them to provide records, identification, financial accounts, bank account numbers and more. These subpoenas were stayed by a judge the following month.
Also in June, Allen leaders said they were interested in possibly rezoning parts of the area, which would effectively stop hemp businesses from expanding. The suit says this is a direct violation of Texas Law Section 443, where this type of regulation is not allowed.
In September, a new zoning ordinance was passed, which limited shop growth, impacting the sales and business of HILT members. Now, the lawsuit says Allen and Collin county responders "have created a climate of fear among Hemp Industry Leaders in Texas members, discouraging them from participating in everyday business activities and interactions with law enforcement."
Sergi and HILT want the small business to continue to be able to sell their products to the city of Allen.
