Cops seize store’s THC drinks
Staff writer
Uncertain of the legality of products found in Carlsons’ Grocery in Marion, police seized 160 cans and bottles of THC beverages Saturday.
Bearing names such as “Nowadays,” “Drink Easy,” “Drinking Buds,” and “Happi,” some come in flavors such as raspberry honeysuckle.
The containers say that the minimum age to buy the product is 21 and that it contains no alcohol.
Greg Carlson, co-owner of Carlsons’ Grocery, said the products were ordered through the store’s beer company, City Beverage, and arrived Thursday.
“They said it’s selling very well in Morris County,” Carlson said.
Now, the seized beverages are in the police department’s evidence room.
Interim Police Chief Zach Hudlin said officer Dustin Woodford saw the beverages at the store and contacted officer Aaron Slater.
Slater called Alcoholic Beverage Control, which told him the agency was letting local agencies handle enforcement.
Hudlin said police would follow up.
Ann Bush, managing partner of City Beverage’s sister company, Three Loons Distributing, said the products were made with hemp extract Delta 9 and are legal to market under state law.
Zane A. Gilmer and Alisa N. Ehrlich, lawyers with Stinson law firm in Denver, wrote a detailed letter to the Kansas Beer Wholesalers Association saying that most products made from Delta 9 hemp that contained less than 0.3% THC were legal to sell in the state.
Exceptions include cigarettes, cigars, chew, dip, and other smokeless material containing industrial hemp; teas containing industrial hemp; liquids, solids, or gases containing industrial hemp for use in vaporizing devices; and hemp products intended for human or animal consumption containing any ingredient prohibited by Kansas food, drug, and cosmetic regulations.
Carlson said he doubted the store would order more of the product after police seized his merchandise.