DEA is sued for destroying a legal hemp plantation
In California, around 3,000 hemp plants were destroyed by the US authorities in 2019.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration and others are being sued for allegedly illegally destroying a hemp plant in California. Agro Dynamics LLC states that in August 2019 it obtained the required permit to grow cannabis legally on its San Diego County property. The company then planted around 3,000 hemp plants which, according to its own information, were tested below the legal limit of 0.3% THC.
"Specifically, a laboratory test by Victory Analysis for this hemp cultivation showed results of less than 0.01 THC, which is clearly within the legal limits". It is alleged that an aerial reconnaissance in support of the marijuana eradication on September 10th last year and a failure to investigate the district's records then resulted in a search warrant being issued on the property. On September 12, 2019, law enforcement officers carried out the search warrant. It is alleged that officials confiscated and destroyed any plants that appeared to be marijuana, despite being told that there was a San Diego County registration issue for growing hemp on the property and the tenant offered to provide proof of registration to officials demonstrate.
The value of the destroyed hemp plants was estimated at around $ 3.45 million. There are dozens of defendants in this case, including the DEA itself, various DEA officials, the San Diego District, various members of the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and other unnamed parties. The lawsuit (Huttip to Hemp Industry Daily) notes, among other things, points: "The warrant authorized the seizure of marijuana, not industrial hemp. Defendants knowingly, intentionally and / or negligently took Plaintiff's industrial hemp in violation of Plaintiff's rights protected by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Of course, there are two sides to every story, but there does not appear to be any comment from the various defendants.
This is not the first lawsuit filed in California for alleged illegal destruction of a hemp plant. In April of this year, we reported that the Kern County Sheriff's Office and others had been sued over an incident that destroyed a cannabis crop that the company said was hemp and their attorneys had value of about $ 1 billion.