The owner of a a suburban Illinois smoke shop that was raided in August over its hemp products filed a lawsuit last month against the city where his business is located, alleging that the improper enforcement has driven away customers.
The company, which does business as the Smoke House in the village of East Dundee, was raided by city police over the summer, according to The Chicago Tribune. Local law enforcement officials arrested owner, Bilal Hussaini, and confiscated most of the shop’s inventory, and in November, criminal charges were filed against Hussaini for misdemeanor possession and felony manufacture or delivery of cannabis.
On Christmas Eve, Hussaini and two of his family members sued the village, along with several police officers who took part in the raid, and East Dundee Police Chief Joshua Fourdyce, alleging wrongful arrest, several violations of Hussaini’s constitutional rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, The Tribune reported.
Both the raid and Hussaini’s subsequent arrest, the suit claims, were “based on fabricated and manipulated evidence,” since hemp is federally legal. The lawsuit asserts that law enforcement officials – who contend that the goods in question tested positive for federally illegal delta-9 THC – used a flawed testing process, and that the hemp products from Hussaini’s store were all compliant with federal law and contained only THCA.
Although East Dundee police eventually returned most of the seized products, Hussaini told The Tribune that he was confused as to why his shop was targeted, and he believes the police are “trying to frame me.”
Similar lawsuits have resulted in settlements in favor of the plaintiffs, The Tribune reported, including a $735,000 settlement in Tennessee and an $80,000 settlement in Texas, paid out to persecuted hemp shop owners.
The police department did not respond to a request for comment from The Tribune, but Chief Fourdyce said at a November village board meeting that the goods had been tested and were positive for THC. Fourdyce also suggested that the town should ban hemp products, as several neighboring Chicago suburbs have also done.
Though such a ban has not yet been adopted by East Dundee, intoxicating hemp products have been banned or restricted in Antioch, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Highland Park, Lake Zurich, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Waukegan and Wheeling, The Tribune reported.
Also in November, the Illinois Department of Agriculture was given the green light by lawmakers to tighten hemp industry rules, and the state may further regulate hemp products, a move called for by Gov. JB Pritzker.
The East Dundee police chief publicly suggested that the city should ban hemp products. Read More
