“The lawsuit is a tactic to distract from the fact that Indy Vapes and Abilene Vape and CBD made a business decision to ignore state law.”
By Maya Smith, Kansas Reflector
Three smoke and vape shops are suing the state of Kansas, accusing officials of Fourth Amendment violations in a series of October raids.
The plaintiffs have filed suit against KBI director Tony Mattivi, Attorney General Kris Kobach (R), KBI agents, local law enforcement and county attorneys. They allege illegal search and seizure and defective warrants.
The KBI and local law enforcement executed raids late last year on smoke and vape shops in Concordia, Independence, Abilene, McPherson, Pratt, Salina, Topeka and Wichita.
The raids were planned in an effort to end lax enforcement of laws against marijuana and THC in Kansas, according to Kobach at a press conference held during the raids.
The lawsuit claims officers seized hemp-derived products without distinctions in the warrants between legal and illegal hemp products under Kansas law.
The smoke and vape shops say the warrants were defective for not acknowledging that types of hemp-derived products are legal within Kansas, with the warrant for Indy Vapes in Independence stating all derivatives of THC are contraband.
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