Kansas CBD shop files suit to retrieve items from raid

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A Kansas CBD shop is suing the KBI and Kansas Attorney General to get its products back following a raid.

The owners of the Hanging Leaf in McPherson said they believe the products sold were legal.

The crackdown on these products is creating a lot of confusion and questions for these shop owners who believe what they are selling is legal. But the state disagrees.

Now, one of those shops -- the Hanging Leaf -- is suing.

CBD sellers point to the 2018 farm bill that says any product below 0.3 percent in delta nine THC is legal. The Hanging Leaf is saying that its products met this requirement and is trying to get its products back.

An industry group that supports CBD shops wants answers from the KBI and wants the state to come back with lab reports of the products the KBI claims are over the limit.

In the meantime, the group says that local producers of these products are being hurt unnecessarily by the raids.

“We have politicians that are cannabis clueless in a way,” CBD advocate Brett Harris said. “Lets talk about it. Tony Mattivi, our KBI director, is holding up a can saying it’s highly illegal, there’s no gray area. He couldn’t be more wrong and doesn’t know the farm bill.”

The KBI provided this statement:

“This lawsuit is a tactic to distract from the fact that the Hanging Leaf, and many other vape shops and CBD dispensaries, were violating the law. These owners made a business decision to ignore state law, and now want to blame law enforcement for what they knew was a likely consequence."

Each of the search warrants executed by KBI were reviewed and signed by a judge, providing KBI the authority to seize illegal products and contraband. We will defend our responsibility to enforce the laws of Kansas.