SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — Business owners in South Fulton are fighting to have their business licenses reinstated after police raided a vape shop and arrested them.
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They claim South Fulton police officers are unaware of Georgia’s laws regarding legal marijuana products and that the testing methods used by police are inaccurate.
Tisha Fernandez of Channel 2 Store employees testified at a hearing Thursday in South Fulton County.
The police raid took place at a vape shop on Campbellton Road on May 1, with surveillance video showing South Fulton police officers arresting the store owner and employees.
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Shop worker Shaizan Koca said the experience was traumatic. “It was traumatic and it’s still traumatic.”
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Police say employees sold illegal marijuana to undercover officers. Investigators are still waiting for the GBI results, but they use a different method for drug testing. Before the owner could offer a defense, investigators quickly revoked the store’s license.
“Even if everything in the store was illegal, they have a right to due process — a hearing and notice of that hearing — and that wasn’t provided in this case,” said Marvin Arrington Jr., an attorney for the store owners.
During the hearing, the store owners’ attorneys presented evidence, including independent testing results from an independent laboratory, that the products are legal under Georgia law. The attorneys also showed photos of other vape shops selling the same products, including one directly across from the police station.
City attorney Vincent Hyman was adamant that the store owners had violated the law. The mayor is due to issue a ruling within 10 days.
“We have a mayor in the room 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 raises the question of whether this is a fair trial,” said Tom Church, another attorney for the store owners.
The owners and workers are also facing human trafficking charges as a result of the raids, and they believe a decision from the mayor within the next 10 days will have an impact on their criminal cases.
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