Dallas attorney Chelsie Spencer specializes in making sure Texas businesses that sell hemp-derived THC products know how to stay in compliance with state and federal rules and regulations, an area that can be very confusing. She offers them a monthly service where her law firm rigorously vets distributors and helps to independently test their products to ensure they are safe and legal to sell in her clients' stores.
"They pay us a phenomenal amount to stay compliant," Spencer said.That is why when Spencer learned that one of her North Texas clients had been raided by local police and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and his home surrounded, like he was a major narcotics dealer, she was shocked.
"They took everything from my client…his children's cellphones, every computer in the house, took all the vehicles, seized all assets, and froze all cash," Spencer said of the raid that occurred in July.
Since August 2024, local and federal law enforcement agencies have raided more than 15 businesses across the state that were accused of selling consumable hemp products that had illegal levels of THC, according to attorneys for these cannabis retailers. During these raids, law enforcement officials seized products and cash that businesses have still not recovered, and customers were scared away. Many of those retailers have not yet been found guilty of any crime, according to their attorneys.
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