Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sent cease-and-desist letters to 104 retail locations and franchised stores in Omaha on March 20 in connection with his office’s enforcement efforts to crack down on products containing THC.
The state’s chief legal officer asked the stores to immediately stop selling any products containing noncompliant amounts of THC or face litigation.
The letters come after investigators from Hilgers’ office teamed up with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office this year to purchase products from stores owned by 35 companies. Hilgers claims each store that was investigated sold at least one product that was marketed as hemp but contained the THC concentration of cannabis.
The attorney general claimed that the products’ labeling incorrectly identified their cannabinoid content, which is an act of deceptive, unfair and unsafe trade practices.
“I’m here today to talk about our continued effort to address the synthetic delta-8 crisis that we have in the state of Nebraska,” Hilgers said during a press conference on Thursday, adding that his office began a series of investigations beginning in late 2023 elsewhere in the state before shifting its focus to Omaha—Nebraska’s most populated city.
“What we found unfortunately is consistent with what we found in every other city in the state of Nebraska, which is every single store that we tested … not one store was following the law,” Hilgers said. “At every single store, we found either something totally mislabeled … [or] we found enormously high levels of delta-8.”
The 104 stores in Omaha now have 30 days to either comply with the attorney general’s demands and take the products off their shelves or face lawsuits from the state.
If any store fails to return a signed settlement indicating its assurance of voluntary compliance, then the attorney general’s office will initiate litigation. Many of the stores that have tobacco licenses will jeopardize those permits as well, according to Hilgers’ office.
Hilgers also indicated that his office plans to provide Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine with evidence of criminal activity for consideration of criminal charges under the state’s cannabis laws. Selling any amount of cannabis in Nebraska is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Some of the products Hilgers is targeting include: Kushy Exotic THCA Flower, Flying Horse Vape-9G, and Road Trip Gummies.
“We were very proud to partner with Attorney General Hilgers and his team to take on this very, very worthwhile effort,” Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said during the press conference. “I’ve been a lawman in Nebraska and specifically in Douglas County since I was 22 years old. And you didn’t have to knock me over with a feather to remind me of one universal truth, and that is: You can’t trust drug dealers. And obviously, this is an industry that cannot be trusted, inasmuch that we did not find one location that was operating in compliance with the law.”
Regardless of one’s position on cannabis legalization, Hanson asked those listening to separate those views from the issue of consumer protection as it related to products with synthetic THC from hemp plants.
Hilgers and Hanson were joined at the press conference by state Sens. Kathleen Kauth and Jared Storm. Kauth, in particular, is sponsoring Legislative Bill 316, which aims to amend the Nebraska Hemp Farming Act and the state’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act to redefine hemp and prohibit conduct related to products containing hemp derivatives in the name of public safety.
In the interim, Hilgers indicated that he plans to seek the maximum penalties and fines against retailers selling noncompliant products containing intoxicating hemp derivatives, including up to a $4,000 fine for each individual sale of a noncompliant product.
“We promised that we would escalate our fight, and today are fulfilling that promise,” Hilgers said Thursday in a public statement. “Operating in Nebraska’s largest city does not immunize you from the law. These stores are selling harmful and unlawful products despite being on notice. Because of that, once litigation ensues, we will seek penalties to the fullest extent of the law, and will refer for criminal prosecution when necessary.”
