SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — Business owners in South Fulton are fighting to get their licenses reinstated after police raided their vape store and arrested them.
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They claim the South Fulton police officers don’t know the law regarding legal hemp products in Georgia and that the testing methods used by the police are inaccurate.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in South Fulton County Thursday, where store workers testified in a hearing.
The police raid happened on May 1 at a vape store on Campbellton Road. Surveillance video shows South Fulton police officers arresting the owner and workers.
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Store clerk Shaizan Khoja described the experience as traumatic, saying, “It was and still is trauma now.”
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Police say that workers sold illegal marijuana to an undercover officer. Investigators are still waiting for GBI results but have used a different method to test the drugs. They revoked the store’s business license quickly before the owner could defend himself.
“Even if everything in the store was illegal – they’re still entitled to due process – a hearing and a notice of that hearing, and that did not happen in this case,’ the store owner’s attorney, Marvin Arrington Jr. said.
During the hearing, attorneys for the store owner presented evidence, including their own test results from an independent lab, which say the products are legal under Georgia law. They showed photos of other vape shops selling the same products, including one store located right across from a police precinct.
City attorney Vincent Hyman stood firm, stating that the store owner broke the law. The city manager will issue a decision in 10 days.
“I think it’s noticeable that we’re in a conference room with the city manager who works in the same building as the city attorney, who works in the same building as the finance director who revoked the license – so it does raise questions about whether this is a fair tribunal,” said Tom Church, another attorney for the store owner.
The owner and workers also face trafficking charges due to the raid. They believe the city manager’s decision in 10 days will impact the criminal case.
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