Colorado permanently bans hemp-derived THC operator
The former operator of a Colorado company that allegedly sold potent cannabis products online under the guise they were federally compliant hemp has been permanently barred from the state’s marijuana and hemp industries.
That’s according to Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser, who last year sued Christopher Landon Eoff and his Greeley-based Gee Distributors, which operated under the business name CBDDY.
Weiser’s lawsuit alleged violations of the state Consumer Protection Act, according to court documents.
According to Weiser, a state investigation found that CBDDY’s THCA flower and other allegedly hemp-derived products were in fact marijuana.
CBDDY “falsified lab results to misrepresent the THC content of his products, failed to verify the age of his customers, and marketed products in ways designed to appeal to children,” Weiser said.
As part of a settlement, Eoff “will be permanently barred from operating any cannabis businesses or any other businesses in related industries in” Colorado, according to Weiser.
In return, Colorado will forgo collecting a $820,000 fine – in part because Eoff, who has since relocated to Arkansas, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protections in January, court records show.
Eoff said in his bankruptcy filing that he incorporated Gee Distributors in 2020 in Dallas, where he “stored items in a warehouse for mailing.”
The business was “somewhat viable until a technical dispute with the state of Colorado over complex hemp business regulations and test discrepancies resulted in a lawsuit from the state that eliminated (its) viability,” according to the filing.
“It hasn’t had a positive value and debtor’s attempt to sell the business even before the suit was unsuccessful.
“Debtor did not intend to operate anything but a legal hemp operation.”
The business, which operated a “hemp dispensary” in Greeley in addition to marketing products online, according to social media postings, appears to have been lucrative, albeit briefly.
According to Eoff’s bankruptcy petition, he earned $452,742 in 2023, but his income plummeted to $162,000 in 2024, the year Weiser sued him.
Eoff is now working as a postal carrier in Arkansas, according to his petition.
Weiser’s action against Eoff and his former company comes amid a nationwide reckoning with the hemp-based THC businesses that have sprung up since the 2018 Farm Bill.
A Republican budget amendment in Congress would eliminate federal protections for intoxicating hemp products despite some state-level action to regulate the sector.
The most notable is in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a proposed ban of the state’s estimated $5.5 billion hemp industry in favor of regulation.