North Dakota retailer prevails in drug case over selling CBD vapes

A North Dakota vape shop owner who sells CBD has succeeded in getting criminal drug charges against him dismissed, after a two-year battle that went to his state’s Supreme Court.

The retailer, Falesteni A. Abu Hamda, was charged with seven drug crimes in 2017, when police seized CBD vape pens and gummy bears from two of his Tobacco Depot shops.

Hamda argued the products were legal because they came from hemp. But he agreed to a plea deal and deferred sentence of probation in exchange for being able to appeal on the legality of CBD.

North Dakota’s high court denied his appeal on technical grounds in February, saying CBD legality was not “a matter of great public concern.”

But a new prosecutor dismissed those drug charges last month, ending Hamda’s probation and canceling the deferred sentence.

The prosecutor did not address the broader legality of hemp-derived CBD in North Dakota.