The seizures of hemp from Tallahassee’s Natural Life shop have become the high cost of doing business. In the past seven months, $500,000 in products have been seized, the company said.

In late November, Tallahassee Police again intercepted a package with what the owners of the shop say is hemp and police say is illegal.

On the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, TPD investigators showed up at a Tharpe Street storage unit with a federal warrant. They were interested in a package mailed from Oregon addressed to a manager of Natural Life. The West Pensacola Street shop sells hemp and other products.

Federal court documents stated TPD seized 10 pounds of "marijuana."

For operators of Natural Life, the seizure marked the third time in two months that investigators targeted the fledgling business acting on a tip from the U.S Postal Inspector.

The recent seizures of hemp delivery to the Tallahassee business reflect the federal and municipal legal minefield for entrepreneurs willing to invest in the industry, which is trying to establish its brand separate from medical and legalized marijuana.

“Regulation of cannabis and its derivative products remains mired in a jumble of federal law, often conflicting with state laws,” wrote U.S. Postal Service Judicial Officer Gary E. Shapiro in a Nov. 8 ruling, which found that hemp products are not illegal substances and are mailable.

But even that ruling has failed to clarify the murky business that continues to result in seizures in Tallahassee and within the industry nationwide.

Legal uncertainty

A big issue is the uncertainty around the federal and state laws dealing with medical marijuana, legalized marijuana, hemp and CBD. Cannabidiol or CBD oil has natural anti-anxiety effects, anti-seizure effects, anti-tumor effects, anti-inflammatory effects and can be used to battle a host of mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders.

Almost two dozen states, including Florida, have approved medical marijuana. Others like Colorado, Massachusetts and California have legalized marijuana. Even though cannabis is still classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, the federal government, especially the Obama administration, had in many cases decided not to make an issue of it.

But while law enforcement has been uneven, politicians have sent a clear message that hemp has vast economic potential. A federal farm bill headed to the desk of President Donald Trump approves the use of industrial hemp. State officials and universities such as the University of Florida and Florida A&M are promoting research on hemp.

Cannabis Industry Association spokesman Morgan Fox said CBD remains illegal at the federal level, and shipping products that contain it across state lines is too. Natural Life has boasted being "one of the only retail stores in the country dedicated to carrying a wide variety of CBD (cannabidiol) products."

Without more details of the content of the recent Tallahassee seized packages, which have only been described in brief in the warrants, it was hard for Fox to make a determination of legality.

“It could be a case of the police not understanding what they’re dealing with, it could be the company is in the right or it could be the company is confused about the hemp laws and CBD laws federally,” Fox said.

The Oregon package was addressed to Natural Life distribution manager Alex Petrick at a Tharpe Street storage unit. It was held by a U.S. Postal Inspector, who noted the Nov. 19 seizure of “illegal narcotics."

A TPD drug-sniffing dog, owned by the same police officer involved in the previous raids, was brought in and alerted on the package and it was seized.

In the Nov. 19 seizure, TPD officer Brianna Shaut wrote that CBD products were seized, while the Nov. 28 seizure was described as marijuana.

TPD spokesman Damon Miller said he could not comment on the discrepancy or the case, which remains part of an active investigation.

However, a letter left at the shop on Nov. 21 from TPD’s General Narcotics Unit Sgt. Travis Bergeron warned that continuing to sell CBD products could result in criminal charges.

“Under Florida law, it is illegal to sell or to offer to sell any products that contain any derivative of cannabis unless you are a licensed medical marijuana distributor,” Bergeron wrote in the letter, copies of which were sent to Natural Life's attorney Michael Minardi and Assistant State Attorney Jon Fuchs. “Natural Life is not a licensed distributor. Therefore, the Tallahassee Police Department will consider criminal charges in the event Natural Life continues to sell or continues to offer to sell any products containing any derivative of cannabis.”

The products seized last month are considered industrial hemp because they contain only trace amounts of the euphoric form of THC in marijuana, Natural Life manager Petrick said shortly after one of the earlier seizures.

Back story:Tallahassee CBD business raided, thousands of dollars in hemp seized

Minardi said the seizure of hemp violates the Farm Bill and goes against a precedent set by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against Drug Enforcement Agency interference with hemp commerce.

Minardi, who is also the chairman of Regulate Florida and a cannabis industry advocate, said the seizure also goes against Shapiro's final ruling that hemp products are not illegal substances and are mailable.

The Hemp Research Act provides an exemption to the Controlled Substances Act “allowing the interstate transportation of industrial hemp, including CBD derived from it,” Shapiro wrote.

But what happens at the federal level may not always determine what state statues officers follow.

“Basically, their position is that all hemp is cannabis; anything with cannabinoids in it is marijuana and therefore illegal in Florida,” Minardi said. “It is still my position, and our position, that federal hemp products are protected under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution as long as they are cultivated and grown in accordance with a state farm bill pursuant to the federal farm bill.”

However, the new federal farm bill could change that.

With congressional support of a provision removing hemp from the Department of Justice’s purview to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the legislation heading to President Trump's desk would effectively legalize hemp as a regulated agricultural product.

Florida’s state farm bill does not mirror the opinions of the federal legislation on agricultural products. Right now, only FAMU and UF can grow and conduct research using hemp.

Minardi said he is continuing to work with law enforcement on the interpretation of the law.

“I don’t know if TPD may have the same opinion on this issue,” he said. “We continue to try to work with them and clarify the rules.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter