Businesses In NWG Can Sell THC Products Again
By REBECCA HAZEN
News Editor
Shops in northwest Georgia are now able to sell Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC again, after the Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force ordered them to remove the products from their shelves back in March.
One of those stores was The Shop: by Stevie and the Moon, in Trenton.
“An agent delivered the letter in March and told us to take the product down immediately. We realized that we would have to retain a lawyer for help,” Dorinda Moon, co-owner of the shop, said.
Attorney Thomas Church, from firm Pate, Johnson, and Church LCC, is the lawyer for The Shop: by Stevie and the Moon, as well as for businesses in Gwinnett County. The Sentinel spoke to Church when the ruling was first issued.
“We have seen local law enforcement agencies going rouge. The law is very clear. The only limitation on substances that are extracted from hemp is Delta-9 THC. As long as these businesses aren’t selling Delta-9 THC products, then they are in the clear,” Church said in March.
Church continued, “I guess there is enough wiggle room for prosecutors to get it wrong. But when a prosecutor gets the law wrong, there are serious consequences. Sheriff’s Departments and District Attorney offices do not legislate. They don’t write the law. What we are seeing here is them almost creating a new law, based on a flimsy reading of the statute.”
According to Moon, they have not heard back from the Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force since that initial order. The notice issued by the Drug Task Force said:
“The following notice is for any products that contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) specifically THC vape cartridges and THC edibles. Per Official Code of Georgia Annotated any form of THC that is over 0.3 percent is defined as a schedule 1, and only Delta-9 THC .3 percent or less is legal.”
“Any individual(s), retailer(s), distributor(s), and/or wholesaler(s) found to be in possession and/or selling/distributing any THC products with any THC concentration of above .3 percent THC will be subject to arrest, prosecution, and possible asset seizure.”
The notice only mentioned Delta-9 and did not mention Delta-8 and Delta-10.
Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC is legal in Georgia, after the signing of House Bill 213, the Georgia Hemp Farming Act, and the federal Farm Bill signed and passed in 2018.
Moon, and other shop owners, attended a court hearing on July 29. At the hearing, State Senator Jeff Mullis testified on their behalf.
The court ruled in the shop’s favor, with a temporary restraining order. This will prevent the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force from making any arrests or seizing products
“Now, everyone is waiting on the state of Georgia to rule if delta products are legal or illegal,” Moon said.
“I want people to be open-minded towards hemp products. Hemp is very useful and can be a great asset to many people. If anyone would like to know more about hemp and its derivatives, they can stop by and I would be happy to educate them,” Moon said.