Worker at Clanton CBD store recounts state raid

BEACH. RIGHT NOW, A NEW FOCUS ON CBD AND THC PRODUCTS. JUST DAYS BEFORE A NEW LAW HEAVILY RESTRICTING THEM TAKES EFFECT. TODAY, OFFICIALS WITH THE ALEIA AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE SAY THEY’VE BEEN LOOKING INTO STORES THAT MAY HAVE SOLD PRODUCTS OVER THE LEGAL LIMITS. THEY SAY AUTHORITIES SEARCHED SERVED SEARCH WARRANTS AT TEN STORES ACROSS FIVE ALABAMA CITIES AND FOUND DOZENS OF ILLEGAL PRODUCTS, BUT AT THIS POINT HAVE MADE NO ARRESTS. TWO OF THOSE STORES IN CLANTON AND THAT’S WHERE WE FIND WVTM 13 LISA CRANE TONIGHT. LISA, YOU TRIED TO SPEAK WITH SOME OF THE STORE OWNERS TODAY. WHAT DID THEY HAVE TO SAY? YEAH, THIS IS ONE OF TWO CBD STORES HERE IN CLANTON THAT WAS RAIDED, THAT WERE RAIDED ON MONDAY. AND THEY’RE BOTH OWNED BY THE SAME PERSON. NOW, THE OWNER WAS NOT HERE WHEN THE STORES WERE RAIDED. SO HE ALLOWED US TO TALK TO AN EMPLOYEE WHO WENT THROUGH THE ORDEAL ON MONDAY. HE SAID, I HAVE A SEARCH WARRANT FOR THIS BUILDING. JOSHUA SPRUILL HAS WORKED IN CBD STORES FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS. HE NEVER THOUGHT HE’D BE SUBJECTED TO A POLICE RAID, SINCE HE SAYS THEY’RE FOLLOWING THE LAW. THEY TOOK ALL THE PRE-ROLLS, THEY TOOK ALL THE BUD THAT WAS IN VACUUM SEALED BAGS. THEY TOOK ALL OF OUR DABS AS WELL. THAT’S GOING TO BE THE WAX FORM, THE DOMINANT FORM AND ALL THAT STUFF. SPRUILL SAYS OFFICERS IMMEDIATELY DISABLED THEIR SECURITY CAMERAS, WHICH HE THOUGHT WAS SUSPICIOUS. THEN HE SAYS, THEY TOOK A CROWBAR TO THE SAFE. THEY TOOK THE REGISTER. THEY TOOK ALL THE MONEY OUT OF THE REGISTERS. THEY BROKE INTO OUR SAFES. AND THEY ARE CLAIMING THAT AS TO BE DRUG MONEY. AND THEY FROZE UP. ALL MY BOSSES ACCOUNTS. IN THE END, SPRUILL ESTIMATES, AUTHORITIES SEIZED MORE THAN 65% OF THE STORE’S INVENTORY AND ABOUT $30,000 IN CASH. ABBY LEE RICE WORKS AT A CBD STORE IN TROY. SHE WAS ON DUTY WHEN AUTHORITIES RAIDED THAT ESTABLISHMENT. SHE SPOKE ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, SAYING THEY CAN PROVE THE PRODUCTS THEY SELL ARE LEGAL. WE HAVE ALL OF OUR LAB WORK THEY DIDN’T EVEN WANT. THEY DIDN’T EVEN CARE ABOUT THE LAB WORK THAT I HAD. I KEPT TELLING THEM, THOSE JARS ARE THAT THAT’S THE LAB WORK ON THEM. LIKE THOSE ARE THE LAB WORK. THEY DIDN’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT. THE ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL DEFENDS THE RAID, SAYING THEY WERE PROMPTED BY COMMUNITY COMPLAINTS IN WHAT THEY FOUND INSIDE IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT ILLEGAL DRUG DEALERS ARE SELLING ON THE STREETS. LET’S MAKE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THIS IS NOT HEMP. THIS IS MARIJUANA. AND WHEN FIELD TESTED FOR PURPOSES OF PROBABLE CAUSE, THC LEVELS EXPONENTIALLY HIGHER THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE LAWFUL UNDER THE FARM BILL. NOW, A NEW STATE LAW THAT GOES INTO EFFECT NEXT WEEK WILL ACTUALLY MAKE MANY OF THE PRODUCTS SOLD IN STORES LIKE THIS ILLEGAL. SO RIGHT NOW, STORES LIKE THIS ARE TRYING TO MOVE THAT INVENTORY OUT THERE, TRYING TO GET RID OF THOSE PRODUCTS VERY QUICKLY. AND THAT MEANS THEY’VE GOT A LOT OF SALES HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND A LOT OF CASH FLOW. BUT SPRUILL AND RICE SAY THEY BELIEVE THESE RAIDS ON MONDAY WERE ACTUALLY AN EFFORT TO REMOVE THOSE PRODUCTS NOW AND SEIZ

There’s a new focus on CBD and THC products, just days before a new law heavily restricting them takes effect.On Friday, officials with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Attorney General’s Office said they’ve been investigating stores that may have sold products over legal limits.They say authorities served search warrants at 10 stores across five Alabama cities and found dozens of illegal products, but at this point, they have made no arrests.Two of those stores are in Clanton and are both owned by the same person.Josh Spruell was working when authorities came in with a search warrant Monday. He was shocked because he said they’re following the law.“They took all the pre-rolls. They took all the buds that was in vacuum sealed bags. They took all of our dabs as well, that’s going to be the wax form, the dominant form and all that stuff,” Spruell said. Spruell said officers immediately disabled their security cameras, which he thought was suspicious, then he says they took a crowbar to the safe.“They took the register. They took all the money out of the registers. They broke into our safes, and they are claiming that as to be drug money. And they froze up, on my boss’s accounts,” Spruell said.In the end, Spruell estimates authorities seized more than 65% of the stores’ inventory and about $30,000 in cash. Abbey Leigh Rice works at a CBD store in Troy. She was on duty when authorities raided that establishment. She wrote about it on social media, saying they can prove the products they sell are legal.“We have all of our lab work. They didn’t even want it. They didn’t even care about the lab work that I had. I could tell them those jars are that, that’s the lab work on them. Those are the lab work. They didn’t care about any of that,” Rice said. The Alabama attorney general defends the raids, saying they were prompted by community complaints, and what they found inside is no different than what illegal drug dealers are selling on the streets.“Let’s make it abundantly clear this is not hemp, this is marijuana. And when field tested for purposes of probable cause, THC levels exponentially higher than would otherwise be lawful under the farm bill,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said. A new state law goes into effect on July 1, 2025, making many of the products being sold here illegal. Many stores are trying to move all those products quickly to get rid of their inventory, which has generated big sales and cashflow. Both Spruell and Rice say they feel the raids on Monday were a way to remove those products now and seize that cash.

CLANTON, Ala. —

There’s a new focus on CBD and THC products, just days before a new law heavily restricting them takes effect. Friday, officials with ALEA and the Attorney General’s office say they’ve been looking into stores that may have sold products over legal limits. They say authorities served search warrants at 10 stores across five Alabama cities and found dozens of illegal products, but at this point have made no arrests.
Two of those stores are in Clanton and are both owned by the same person.

Josh Spruell was working when authorities came in with a search warrant on Monday. He was shocked because he says they’re following the law. Spruell said, “They took all the pre-rolls. They took all the buds that was in vacuum sealed bags. They took all of our dabs as well, that’s going to be the wax form, the dominant form and all that stuff.”

Spruell told us officers immediately disabled their security cameras which he thought was suspicious then he says they took a crowbar to the safe. He added, “They took the register. They took all the money out of the registers. They broke into our safes, and they are claiming that as to be drug money. And they froze up, on my boss’s accounts.” In the end Spruell estimates authorities seized more than 65% of the stores’ inventory and about $30,000 in cash.

Abbey Leigh Rice works at a CBD store in Troy. She was on duty when authorities raided that establishment. She spoke about it on social media saying they can prove the products they sell are legal.
Rice said, “We have all of our lab work. They didn’t even want it. They didn’t even care about the lab work that I had. I could tell them those jars are that that’s the lab work on them. Those are the lab work. They didn’t care about any of that.”

The Alabama Attorney General defends the raids saying they were prompted by community complaints and what they found inside are no different than what illegal drug dealers are selling on the streets.
Marshall said, “Let’s make it abundantly clear this is not hemp, this is marijuana. And when field tested for purposes of probable cause, THC levels exponentially higher than would otherwise be lawful under the farm bill.”

A new state law goes into effect on July 1, 2025, that will make many of the products being sold here illegal, so many stores are trying to move all those products quickly to get rid of their inventory, which has generated big sales and cashflow. Both Spruell and Rice say they feel the raids on Monday were a way to remove those products now and seize that cash.