ALLEN, Texas — A man who says his hemp shop was among those raided during Allen police’s hemp shop raids in August and a hemp industry group are suing the city and law enforcement agencies, alleging the raids were unlawfully carried out.
The Allen Police Department raided nine vape shops in late August, alleging they were selling products containing illegal levels of THC. Allen police say products sold at the shops contained 7% to 78% THC, and the legal limit for products containing THC in Texas is 0.3% or less.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas this week on behalf of the Hemp Industry Leaders of Texas and Allen shop owner Sabhie Khan, 70, and alleges the search warrants for the shops were obtained using discredited testing methods and standards. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the method of testing used by law enforcement, gas chromatography, heats THCa in products, causing the samples to look illegal.
Khan is the manager of Allen Smoke & Vape, according to the lawsuit. He and others were charged with manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony, after the raid, according to the lawsuit.
“The DEA, Allen Police Department, and Collin County Sheriff’s Office targeted Khan’s small business, bringing the full force of the federal government, teamed with an aggressive, headline-seeking police department, and together they treated Khan like the kingpin of a drug cartel, despite hemp being legal,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit requests protections “from further searches or seizures conducted without probable cause of products owned by Plaintiffs that are non-synthetic, naturally occurring, legal substances,” the return of seized inventory and more.
“Every day, Mr. Khan and our members, many running minority-owned businesses, provide a much-needed and legal product to their community assisting people with challenges resulting from PTSD and physical pain,” said Hemp Industry Leaders of Texas founder AJ Valador.
The Allen Police Department said it's aware of the lawsuit, but declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The Collin County Sheriff’s Office likewise declined to comment.
The 2018 Farm Bill defined “hemp” as “cannabis and derivatives of cannabis” with no more than 0.3% THC on a dry-weight basis and separated hemp from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act, according to the FDA.
Then, in 2019, Texas legalized the production, manufacture, sale and inspection of industrial hemp crops and products, including those for “consumable hemp products which contain cannabidiol (CBD), as well as other edible parts of the hemp plant,” according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
