High court clears Nebraska vape shop owners in CBD criminal case

The owners of a Nebraska vape shop charged with drug crimes in 2017 for selling CBD products have been cleared of all wrongdoing by the state’s Supreme Court.

The owners of DJ’s Vapes, a shop about 35 miles north of Omaha, were charged with conspiracy and felony drug distribution after their shop was raided. The raid came two months after Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson declared CBD products illegal because they haven’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A judge dismissed the charges in 2018, citing a lack of evidence.

But Nebraska prosecutors refiled the charges later that year, according to the Washington County Pilot-Tribune & Enterprise. Another court threw them out, prompting prosecutors to file charges a third time.

Nebraska passed a 2019 law stating that products containing below 0.3% THC are not considered a controlled substance.

In the Nebraska Supreme Court decision, released Friday, justices ruled 7-0 that the government failed to show that the synthetic CBD products contained THC and therefore violated state law.

But the court declined to give broader direction on prosecuting cases involving CBD products.