After a lengthy hearing, the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors voted to lift the business license suspensions of the five vape and tobacco shops in the county that were suspected of selling Schedule I narcotics, with several conditions during Tuesday night’s meeting, held in the colonial courthouse.
Last month, Sheriff Darrell Warren asked board members to suspend the business licenses of five vape shops due to the suspected sale of Schedule I narcotics at these establishments. They did so unanimously.
This request came directly after a raid where the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office and Tri-Rivers Drug Task Force seized more than 2,000 items they believed to be unlawful. State lab results for these items were still pending at the time.
“We now have lab results from all five locations from the March 3 operation that shows that they were continuing to sell products containing Schedule I substances,” said Warren during Tuesday night’s meeting.
He clarified to the board and the assembled crowd of both vape shop supporters and contrarians alike that GCSO is operating its investigation under state code, which no longer lists marijuana as a Schedule I substance and was therefore not a consideration.
Attorney Warren Tomlin represented the three Rhino vape businesses, which are owned by the same family, during the hearing.
“Rhino requires the manufacturers and the distributors of their products to certify that they do not contain any unlawful ingredients,” said Tomlin. “They rely on that manufacturer certification.”
Ahmed Khalil of Kaufman & Canoles and Chief Operating Officer Chad Dixon presented similar arguments for Super Tobacco and Vape and The Vault, respectively.
“My client relies on certifications from manufacturers, in particular when it relates to any of the legal hemp products that are sold,” said Khalil.
“There were a couple of times where multiple products were seized for testing,” said Khalil, referencing the Super Tobacco raid. “And only one would return a potential positive result for whatever Schedule I substance they were looking for.
“And that’s part of the problem here,” he continued. “Where you put the onus on the business owner without any sort of due process to show that there was an intent to distribute, an intent to sell Schedule I substances.”
Khalil wrapped up his comments by stating that his client’s only intent was to sell legal products in Virginia within the operation of the law.
“All of the lab results show that everything is above board,” said Dixon about manufacturing information provided to The Vault. “There’s no Schedule I substances, there’s no heroin.
“I find it hard to believe that any of these products could have Schedule I substances in them,” continued Dixon. “These are, at least for what we carry at The Vault, these are companies that sell products nationwide.”
Sheriff Warren had another opportunity at the podium to address the board, asking members to permanently revoke the vape shops’ business licenses.
“These owners and their representatives can claim that they didn’t know what they were selling, but it’s not my responsibility,” said Warren. “It’s theirs.”
During this time, Warren and GCSO Property and Evidence Manager Jamie Williams reviewed the products seized with the board, including one item that showed a Schedule I substance labeled on the packaging.
“These businesses have shown that they can’t be trusted to monitor or oversee what they sell,” argued Warren.
“The balance that I see before us is a balance between protection of the public and property rights of the business owner,” said supervisor Joe Leming.
The board voted 5-2, with Shannon Hanson and Chris Hutson dissenting, to reinstate all five business licenses on the condition that the products, and the brands of those products, which have tested positive for Schedule I or II drugs (as designated by the Gloucester County Sheriff) not be possessed or offered for sale by those establishments, and that products as designated by the GCSO be tested, at the expense of the business establishments, by an independent testing firm, as approved by the sheriff, for the presence of Schedule I or II drugs.
