Drug, weapons charges dropped against Cajun Cannabis owner Travis DeYoung

Drug and weapons charges against Cajun Cannabis owner Travis DeYoung stemming from an April 2019 sweep of his CBD business have been dismissed.

The 15th Judicial District Attorney’s office filed Monday to dismiss the five charges in two separate cases.

The charges included two counts of felony possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I drug, felony possession of a gun during the sale or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and two counts of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. 

The controlled dangerous substance in question was Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that gets users high. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive compound extracted from the cannabis plant, generally hemp, which is a cannabis variety low in THC. 

The dismissal came one week after Assistant District Attorney Patsy Randall Duhon recommended DeYoung accept a plea deal for five years with hard labor.

DeYoung, of Youngsville, was arrested in April 2019 after he was pulled over and his business was searched by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, less than a week after DeYoung opened his CBD and hemp-focused retail store and café in the 3800 block of Johnston Street.

Deputies seized a range of CBD products, including oils, gummies, mints, vapes and other edible items and products and two handguns from DeYoung’s vehicle and business. Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber said his agency had received multiple complaints about illegal activity at DeYoung’s business.

Before the arrest, deputies bought and tested products from the store and said they tested positive for THC, but Garber did not disclose the levels in the products. At the time, Louisiana law defined any substance derived from the cannabis plant as marijuana, even if it had 0% THC content, and the products were considered controlled dangerous substances.

The law conflicted with federal guidance, which under the 2018 Farm Bill distinguished between hemp and marijuana and paved the way for hemp-derived products and hemp with less than a 0.3% THC content to be available for legal sale, albeit with regulatory caveats.

The differences in federal and state law created a confusing and sometimes fraught gray area for CBD retailers.

The contradiction was resolved when a law was passed by the Louisiana Legislature in June 2019 distinguishing between hemp and marijuana and creating a pathway for the sale of limited hemp-derived CBD products. Regulation of CBD sales and permitting was placed under the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

DeYoung’s business on Johnston Street remains open and DeYoung is listed as a licensed CBD retailer through the ATC, agency records show. Business records with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office also show DeYoung is listed as the manager and listed agent for a second Cajun Cannabis location in Bossier City.

The registration for that business was filed on Jan. 22, 2020, about one week after the criminal charges were filed against DeYoung in Lafayette court.