KYHA Fights Back Against Delta-8 THC Raids

On June 15th, 2021, Kentucky State Troopers raided two lawful hemp retail stores in Morehead, KY. In an effort to seize Delta-8 THC products, law enforcement took a wide variety of hemp products, money, cameras, terrorized the store owners and charged their employees with trafficking.

Kentucky Hemp Association board members were outraged when we learned about this gross misrepresentation of federal law. We learned that Kentucky State Police used “the Delta-8 Letter” from Joe Bilby at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as justification for the raid. This letter — which many of you are familiar with — was waved in the faces of business owners as they watched their store employees being harassed and charged with criminal offenses.  

This can not stand.  

The KYHA and numerous individual members have retained legal counsel to fight back against this encroachment into our industry. We want you to be aware that we are ready to fight for your business. We will fight with our time and our energy and we pledge to raise money for this cause.  

We will take this case to whatever level of government is necessary. 

We can not do it without your help. The KYHA is currently seeking donations for legal expenses, and it looks like we will need to think outside the box to collect them.  

We already learned that GoFundMe won’t help. Over $2,000 was refunded to donors via GoFundMe within 24 hours of creating the fund because they see this as a criminal issue and won’t allow legal fees for D-8 on their platform. 

That’s fine. We don’t have to play their game…  

We will accept donations directly to the association to be earmarked specifically for protecting our members from law enforcement. We want to be able to sell Delta-8 THC products that are below 0.3% Delta-9 THC.  

In the meantime, our legal counsel has taken several steps to find a path to success, including talking to General Counsel Joe Bilby directly.  

Please save a copy of this letter.

The letter was already sent to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture from KYHA legal counsel, Christopher Wiest, on behalf of the KYHA. We are demanding that the KDA guidance letter regarding the legality of D-8 be rescinded and new guidance issued.  

If they refuse, then we will sort this out the hard way and we will ensure that the Rule of Law still holds some weight in Kentucky and the rest of the U.S.  

It’s time to put this conversation to rest. Cannabis that’s high in Delta-9 THC can be easily obtained at the seat of U.S. government in Washington D.C. (as a free gift with purchase.) So why are we still fighting over Kentucky Hemp?