Wednesday morning, officers from the Great Bend Police Department executed a search warrant at Breaktime Corner Market (Formerly Presto-Circle K), 2337 Washington Ave. The search warrant was served as part of an investigation involving alleged sales of THC occurring at the business, a release from Chief Steve Haulmark said. “A large quantity of products containing THC as well as drug paraphernalia were seized from the business. The case will be presented to the County Attorney’s Office for review and determination of criminal charges.
“This enforcement action is part of a larger investigation in and around Great Bend, which remains ongoing.”
The release from Chief Haulmark noted that prior to the execution of this warrant, all of the businesses in our community who are known to sell smoking and vaping products were provided with a courtesy letter requesting their compliance with Kansas Laws regarding controlled substances.
Courtesy Letter
When asked about the courtesy letter referenced by Chief Haulmark in the department’s press release and also during the raid, no business that the Great Bend Tribune contacted could provide the letter and all of them said that any potential letter pre-dated current management or was filed away from more than two years ago.
None could recall from whom the letter was sent.
“The police chief said it was a year and a half. But I know it has to have been at least two years,” a manager at Breaktime that was present during the execution of the warrant said. “We were selling it before the letter. So we were selling it before two years ago. And then I know they stopped for three to six months, maybe six months,” explaining that their distributors halted delivery briefly but once deliveries resumed employees returned products to store shelves. “They didn’t send us any more of that product, and we didn’t sell any of it, and then they just started sending it again.”
The Tribune sent a request to Chief Haulmark asking for a copy of the letter in question, when it was sent and by whom. As of press time the Tribune had not received a reply.
Confusion about legality
According to the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp products containing less than 0.3% THC are federally legal. However, Kansas law has not changed and recognizes that there is a 0% threshold for THC products across the state.
Many products similar to the ones seized during the raid of Breaktime are also available at liquor stores, convenience stores and smoke and vape shops in Great Bend and Barton County as well as other communities across the state. Local retailers that sell these products have been doing so for multiple years with the understanding they are operating within the law while also collecting city, county and state sales tax on the products.
“We’ve never been messed with,” said Jennifer Best, manager of Smok-N-Vape since putting on their shelves more than two years ago. “We just want clarification. It all comes from the hemp plant and all of it, every bit of the product that was in this store was .3% or less.”
After the press release was posted to the Great Bend Police Department’s social media, some stores within city limits pulled their products to potentially avoid confiscation and legal issues even though the products account for a significant portion of their revenue. Other stores are still operating as normal with the understanding their products are legal.
Even with the expected losses the risk isn’t worth the reward for some.
“We pulled everything off our shelves,” Best said. “We pay our taxes every quarter. We send them taxes in and everybody gets a cut.”
“It’s pretty big. I mean, you see from where she’s standing all the way down to here is our product,” Vapor 100 Store Manager Sara Lewis said as she and a coworker worked to remove product from store shelves. “We’re pulling half our store almost.”
After reading some of the comments left on the social media post and talking with customers, “I hear the community’s kind of outraged about it all,” Lewis said.
Revenue from the federally legal hemp products account for roughly half of sales for the vape store. “It’s devastating,” Lewis said. As well as concern for the business, employees also expressed concern for the customers that purchase the products. “So many people use it for pain, to sleep, and that have cancer.”
Lewis, who has been managing the Great Bend store for about five months, said, “I’ve been here for five months and haven’t received a letter and my regional manager wasn’t aware of a letter either.”
After leaving the business the Tribune was informed that employees were later instructed to return product back to the shelves.
