TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) – The Kansas Attorney General believes that CBD oil, a popular product used to treat things like seizures and arthritis, is illegal. The opinion has local shops that sell CBD oil scrambling.
On Monday, Jason Todack, the owner of CBD American Shaman in Topeka, temporarily closed his doors. He and one of his employees packed up the CBD products and had to turn customers away.
“It hurts. It hurts that I know there are people out there that are going to be suffering now,” said Todack.
Todack opened his store last summer after he and his girlfriend, Sarah, found relief while using CBD oil.
“Her seizures came to a complete stop and my tumors started dissipating to the point that I could breath and smell for the first time. We decided to ourselves why isn’t there a store on every corner,” said Todack.
Now, Todack and others are sitting in limbo. They felt comfortable enough with the legality of CBD oil to stake their livelihood on the product, but on Wednesday, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt released an opinion saying CBD oil is illegal in Kansas.
“We believe it is unlawful to possess or sell products or substances containing any amount of cannabidiol,” said Schmidt in this opinion addressed to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay and Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe.
On the other hand, Todack’s attorney Sean Pickett says CBD oil is protected nationally by the latest farm bill, which he says legalized hemp nationwide.
“There’s some confusion about marijuana versus cannabis versus CBD,” said Pickett. “But the most important thing here that the attorney general’s letter didn’t say is CBD is not sourced mainly or only from cannabis.”
Pickett says CBD can also be taken from things like hops, juniper and human breast milk.
Pickett says he’s hoping to sit down with Kagay and Schmidt soon, but he’s also filing an injunction against the state in the hopes of saving businesses like Todack’s. Todack says he hopes to have his business open again by the end of the week.
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