Green Angel CBD and NYPD: The Real Truth

If you have been following Green Angel CBD for a while, you’ve likely heard about our run-in with law enforcement.  As you probably know, the fact that hemp and CBD products are legal in the United States doesn’t mean that it’s a stigma-free industry.  And, unfortunately, many authorities still don’t quite understand the differences between hemp and marijuana.  Our story is an extreme example of this.  Hence, we’re very fortunate to ultimately have a positive ending.

However, for those who are still a bit confused about what happened, we at Green Angel CBD feel that it’s important to clear things up by writing our story in our own words.  We owe it to our customers to keep them informed on what happens within our company. Why? Because transparency has always been one of our top priorities.  We want you to know that we go to enormous lengths to earn and maintain your trust. This is why we’re more than happy to break down exactly what happened.

NYPD Wrongfully Confiscated Legal Hemp

Back in November, a story hit the newsstands regarding the confiscation of 106 pounds of marijuana by NYPD officials.  As it turns out, police got their hands on this shipment because of a FedEx driver who contacted the 75^th Precinct in an attempt to report something illegal.  Once the substance in question was successfully obtained by police officers, they took to social media to celebrate their acquisition. Along with sharing that they managed to arrest the person to whom the product was meant to be delivered.

Now, if you haven’t figured out by now, that was our shipment.  And, as you might have guessed, what was in the package was not marijuana, but industrial hemp.  Now, why would law enforcement assume that what they had obtained was marijuana rather than hemp?  Well, for one thing, marijuana and hemp smell and look basically identical.  This is because they share a large number of compounds.  So, it is pretty easy to confuse them, especially if you don’t have much personal experience with either.

Now, here’s the problem. While we experienced an arrest, we also had documents to prove that what we had was not marijuana.  At first, though, those documents were disregarded.  Like any reputable CBD company, we had proof that the hemp contained below the legal limit of THC. Meaning, we hadn’t broken the law in any way.

My brother Oren, who was the one who was put in jail, was released shortly after his arrest. However, the NYPD maintained that an investigation needed to be carried out. This included a testing of the hemp in order to prove that it contained below the legal THC limit. All despite the fact that we had legitimate paperwork to prove that this was the case.

Hemp is Still Considered By Many to Be a New Industry

This means that many law enforcement officers haven’t come across much industrial hemp in their time.  It’s fairly expected that they would see something that looks and smells like marijuana and take it at face value rather than taking the time to research the substance to find out that it’s not marijuana at all.

Green Angel CBD Fights Back

The NYPD had $60,000 worth of hemp that rightfully belonged to us.  Now, if you know anything about the hemp business, you know that because it’s so new, companies have a lot of financial hurdles to overcome.  Therefore, this incident had the potential to seriously hurt our business, not to mention our personal reputations.  That’s why we sued the city of New York for $10 million in damages.

Fortunately, we were able to retrieve our wrongfully confiscated hemp.  And, we were quite pleased to see that it was properly sealed.  However, that doesn’t mean that all is well.  Because our hemp was kept in improper conditions for such a long period of time, it has dried out, which means that it needs to be retested before we can sell it.  When hemp is not properly stored, it can lose its potency as its chemical composition can change dramatically.

But, in better news, we did manage to win our lawsuit against New York City, as it was clear all along that our hemp was perfectly legal.  Because we had the documents to prove its low level of THC, which is what any good company should be able to provide on demand, it was clear that we were in the right all along.

What Does This Mean for Green Angel CBD? 

Well, we’re relieved that our reputation wasn’t irreparably damaged throughout this whole incident.  Rather than turning on us, our loyal customers supported us in ways we never thought possible.  This shows that hemp is a powerful industry that isn’t going anywhere. The trust that our customers have put in us demonstrates how much our CBD products matter to them.  However, the issue is that until law enforcement officials are properly educated on CBD, and until the FDA approves CBD once and for all, incidents like these are almost certain to happen again.  We aren’t the first company to have our hemp questioned by authorities, and we truly doubt that we will be the last.

The Importance of Awareness, Education and Destigmatization within the Hemp Industry

Now, you can understand why it’s so important that our industry is continually supported by CBD enthusiasts.  Incidences like these have the potential to damage this market.  They definitely don’t help the fact that there are still some people who are wary about trying hemp because of its close association to marijuana.  Maybe you would call this an honest mistake.  The truth is, those 106 pounds of hemp could have been lost forever, which would be a tragedy considering the number of customers who rely on taking CBD daily for various ailments.  Therefore, these things simply cannot keep happening, as the industry is still struggling quite a bit to be taken seriously in the medical industry as well as the mainstream world.

Our Wild Experience with NYPD Ultimately Ended in Our Favor

However, this story teaches a much larger lesson to hemp enthusiasts and law enforcement officials throughout the country.  We need to continue advocating for the medicinal use of hemp.  This is so it doesn’t lose its stigma and becomes a widely accepted and understood market.  Until then, innocent CBD companies will continue to risk losses due to a lack of education surrounding hemp and how it differs from marijuana.