According to a report by Yahoo News on September 5th, Attorney General Mike Hilgers of Nebraska announced on Wednesday (the 4th) that he will be conducting surprise inspections of retailers selling delta-8 products throughout the state.
Hillges stated during the press conference that
We are ramping up efforts to clean up Nebraska. This is the first time we have filed lawsuits against every store in a community. These stores have been deceiving residents of Nebraska.
Hilgers announced that four new lawsuits have been filed against five Norfolk businesses. These lawsuits were filed in Madison County District Court on Wednesday, accusing the businesses of violating the Consumer Protection Act, the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the Nebraska Pure Food Act.
Spokespersons for two stores in Norfolk city stated that they were not aware of any issues with the products purchased from wholesalers. Tiffany Colsden, the general manager of NP Mart, mentioned that her team only learned about the investigation through the media on Wednesday (the 4th). She stated that by noon, both stores had already removed the products in question from shelves.
Meanwhile, lawsuits have also been filed against Smokin' Deals, Smokes R. Less, and Vapor Hutt. When a journalist called Smokes R. Less, the person who answered the phone hung up. The owner of Vapor Hutt could not be reached.
Regina Uecker, the owner of Smokin' Deals, expressed feelings of sadness and anger upon learning about the investigation. She said, "I don't understand at all, it's so frustrating that they couldn't work with us." As of Wednesday afternoon, she had not made any changes to the inventory in her store because she had not received any paperwork and did not know what they were being accused of. She added that her store operates in compliance with regulations, only selling products to customers 21 years and older and not selling products resembling candy.
The Office of the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the Consumer Protection Act, seeking civil penalties and other remedies. Herges has pledged to work to close the legal loopholes related to Delta-8 opened by the 2018 Farm Bill.
Hilgess explained the reason behind the city-wide crackdown, pointing out that retailers told his team that if they were to stop selling these products, the criminals would simply continue to do so.
What have we done for this community? We will be cleaning up one city at a time, starting with Norfolk.
In Norfolk City, he reported that all 34 products tested from stores were inaccurately labeled. He said that more than one-third of the tested products contained marijuana. This is not only an urgent concern for Madison County but the entire trading area as well. Vlad stated that these products have raised concerns at both state and federal levels. Last year, the US FDA received over 300 reports of children and adults being injured after consuming Delta-8 THC products.
The key is not where we start from, but where we will end up. We will visit every city in Nebraska that sells these products.
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