A routine traffic stop of a local business owner ended with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office executing a search warrant at Cajun Cannabis overnight.
The store, which opened on April 20, sold several CBD products including oils, lotion, bath products and soap.
“This was a search warrant executed after probable cause was developed through some routine investigation where officers walked in and bought a product off-the-shelf and tested it,” LPSO Sheriff Mark Garber said.
The investigation began after a citizen complaint, Garber added.
According to Louisiana State law, CBD is a compound of marijuana and it is considered a schedule 1 controlled substance, known as a narcotic drug. Sheriff Garber said in Lousiana CBD is illegal.
Garber said the products from Cajun Cannabis tested positive for both CBD and THC.
Store owner Travis DeYoung now faces several drug charges including a felony charge for the manufacturing, distribution and possession of marijuana.
Today, customers did arrive Cajun Cannabis on Johnston Street hoping it was maintaining regular store hours.
News 10 spoke to one customer who wished to remain anonymous. He said he was looking for their signature sodas. “This is the only place you can get it. They have one across town but they don’t have any soda like that. They have more variety in this store,” the hopeful shopper said.
“Just because something is being offered in a retail establishment does not necessarily mean that it is totally legal to sell it,” Garber said. “That’s the point that I think could escape a lot of people. It just doesn’t mean it’s totally legit.”
Sheriff Garber did say that if state laws change on CBD, the department will follow them. As of now, a substance that contains any level or trace of THC is considered illegal in the state of Louisiana.
House Bill 491 to legalize industrial hemp passed the Agriculture Committee unanimously today in Baton Rouge. The bill now moves to the House floor now.
For more information on CBD from the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy click here.
