Legal Hemp Owner Sues After Police Ignorance Costs Him $850,000
February 6, 2025
In a striking example of law enforcement’s failure to know the laws they enforce, a Tennessee businessman is suing Sevierville police after they arrested him and eventually destroyed $850,000 worth of legal hemp flower, wrongly believing it to be marijuana. The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed by Litson PLLC today, alleges that police used outdated testing methods that cannot distinguish between legal hemp and controlled substances.
Despite Plaintiff Andrew Smith immediately providing proper documentation showing that the hemp was legal, police held the agricultural product for months without proper storage, rendering it worthless. And months passed before District Attorney Jimmy Dunn dismissed the baseless criminal charges against Smith. The incident occurred despite hemp being legal under federal law since 2018.
“This case exposes a critical failure in law enforcement’s approach to hemp,” said attorney Alex Little. “Modern testing equipment exists to differentiate between legal hemp and marijuana, but officers used inadequate methods instead.”
The lawsuit seeks damages exceeding $850,000 and demands improved law enforcement training by the City of Sevierville.
Litson PLLC is a boutique law firm focused on white collar criminal defense and high-stakes litigation. It is part of Hemp Law Group, which provides regulatory advice to hemp businesses in Tennessee and across the United States.
