Indiana Raids Grocery Store Raided Over CBD Oil

A grocery store in Indiana was reportedly raided by local police due to the fact that the store was currently selling a legal, hemp-based CBD oil product.

According to WTHR in Indiana, state excise police raided a store called Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, located in Indianapolis. Police seized thousands of dollars worth of hemp-based CBD products, none of which are actually illegal under federal law.

Police may have been confused because of a restrictive medical cannabis law passed in the state earlier this year, only allowing certain patients with explicit doctor’s notes to access medical-grade CBD oil. However, the new law has no effect hemp-based CBD products that are sold over-the-counter in grocery stores and farmers markets. Hemp CBD oil is less potent than the kind derived from cannabis plants that also produce THC, and therefore is legal across the U.S.

Still, the police in Indiana seem to be determined to turn grocery stores upside down in order to determine that everyone is following federal law.

“We enforce illegal possession and sale of CBD oil in tobacco and alcoholic beverage licensed establishments,” a spokeswoman for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission stated in an interview with WTHR. “CBD oil is not legal to sell or possess in Indiana . . . The businesses found in possession are cited administratively under their alcohol or tobacco sales certificate for the preliminary charges of possession of marijuana and possession of [a] counterfeit controlled substance.”

To date, the allegations have not been officially reviewed, and no other raids of this kind have been reported. Since this type of CBD oil is legal to sell in all states, it isn’t likely that any charges will be brought against the supermarket.

Incidents such as this are evidence that despite the state’s current stance on cannabis, education about products like hemp-based CBD oil are imperative.