The Garland Police Department, along with a Drug Enforcement Administration Taskforce out of Dallas, raided the shop on June 7, claiming it was selling products with illegal amounts of THC. Admitting to no wrongdoing on its part, bee Hippy Hemp Dispensary shut down immediately after the raid but reopened last weekend.
The store's owner, Christopher Charles Fagan, 41, and longtime store employee, 55-year old David Lee Dranguet, were both arrested during the raid for allegedly selling illegal THC products.
According to a press release addressing the reopening, both men were bound and immediately arrested on the day of the raid. During the raid, the police seized all of the store’s product, which Fagan said was legal and compliant hemp, along with a tiny home that was parked outside the store, cash, numerous personal items and the bee Hippy mascot outfit. Fagan said both his and Lee’s homes were also searched and that they had to pay about $45,000 in bonds to get released the following day.
Texas House Bill 1325 legalized hemp in the state in 2019. The law set a legal limit for delta-9 THC, the active ingredient in weed that can get users high. According to the bill, cannabis with 0.3% delta-9 or less by weight is considered legal hemp. Cannabis with more than 0.3% delta-9 is illegal marijuana.
Reached for comment, Fagan told the Observer the store is trying to move forward after the raid. “Unfortunately the Garland police illegally seized 90% of all our inventory, so it's going to take some time to rebuild inventory,” Fagan said. “Our main priority at this point is reconnecting with customers and to provide transparency into what the Garland police did to our legal and compliant business.”“Our main priority at this point is reconnecting with customers and to provide transparency into what the Garland police did to our legal and compliant business.” – Christopher Fagan, store owner
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According to Fagan, the Garland Police Department sent an undercover officer into the store three separate times in May this year to purchase products with THCa.
THCa is short for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid. It is naturally occurring in hemp and is a precursor to delta-9 THC. THCa on its own won’t get you high, but when it’s heated (like in a joint, for example), it turns into delta-9.
The Garland police used a THC field test that showed the products tested positive for THC. Fagan said there isn’t a field test that can detect delta-9 THC within a 0.3% dry weight limit. He said all of the products at the store have already been tested by a third-party lab to show they’re within the legal limit of delta-9 THC, but the Garland Police never asked to see these lab results.
Fagan said bee Hippy Hemp Dispensary has been licensed by the state to sell retail hemp products since the day it opened. “The Garland Police knew we were licensed, chose to ignore these laws, and proceed forward with clear intent to harm bee Hippy, it's employees, and its customers,” Fagan said.
The Garland Police Department said it couldn’t comment because there’s an ongoing criminal investigation, adding “cases have been filed at the county level and the federal level.” The agency handling the federal case is the Dallas DEA field office.
HB 1325 says "the department by rule must provide to a retailer of hemp products fair notice of a potential violation concerning hemp products sold by the retailer and an opportunity to cure a violation made unintentionally or negligently.” But Fagan said the shop never got any notice about potential violations. “Considering every product sold at bee Hippy is compliant, has been tested, and we've never received notice of any violations, the Garland Police Department and other supporting law enforcement agencies must be held accountable for the atrocities committed,” he said.
