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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

A couple of weeks ago, a 4-year-old child in Davie County overdosed on a packaged CBD product found in the home.

And Davie Sheriff J.D. Hartman says that some of the CBD products being sold are actually marijuana. That’s why officers raided two such places, confiscating products and cash.

No arrests were made at 601 Tobacco and Vape off Yadkinville Road in Mocksville, and at Tanglewood Tobacco in Bermuda Run, but officers are working with the district attorney’s office to review the evidence for possible charges.

Called Operation Wake and Vape, Hartman says he hopes it will alert the public that some of these stores are selling marijuana rather than hemp products. The hemp products must contain less than .3% THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Some of those sold at these stores advertised its products as containing more than 100 times the allowed limit. Tests proved it as true.

Along with sheriff’s officers on the raids were special agents of the Trademark Enforcement Division of the NC Secretary of State’s Office, who seized several items of counterfeit merchandise. Some of the products look just like and are named the same as real candies and cookies, Hartman said.

Officers acted on tips, and made undercover buys. They sent the products for testing of THC content to a private lab (The local sheriff’s office paid for this as the state lab refuses to test these products, he said.).

“At one store, they sold to a 14-year-old, no questions asked,” Hartman said. Such products were also linked to overdoses at South Davie Middle School last year.

“While the marijuana was labeled as hemp, there was laboratory paperwork and markings on packaging indicating it contained over 100 times the THS Delta-9 level as allowed by law to be considered as hemp,” Hartman said. “Several of the items seized also closely resembled packaging of well-knolwn candy brands … and were packaged in a manner that could easily be mistaken for candy by children.”

Hartman said the operators of the stores showed little or no remorse.

“These folks are not here to be contributing members of our society. Operation Wake and Vape demonstrates the Davie County Sheriff’s Office commitment to protecting our children from the dangers of illegal drugs. This type of activity is not only illegal, but deely harmful to the youth in our community.”

Hartman said the problem began soon after hemp products were made legal. While both are from the same plant, hemp is derived from a cross between male and female plants which contains less than the .3% of THC. Plants bred as female only can reach a THC content of as high as 30%, according to the ARA Medical Cannabis Institute.

The sheriff’s office encourages anyone with additional information to contact deputies by visiting 132 Government Center Drive or at www.dcsonc.com, or by downloading the Davie County Sheriff’s Office App available on iPhone and Android devices.