BERKELEY, Mo. – It was shut down by St. Louis City Hall after a July raid by police. Exotic Smokes #2 on Hampton in South City appealed.

“These hemp-based products are legal,” attorney Jay Kanzler said.

Kanzler represents the shop owners. In an appeals hearing, he took on concerned neighbors and Alderman Thomas Oldenburg.

“Ultimately we had a bad operator,” the alderman said.

It’s a business that backs up to Bishop DuBourg High School and was open 24 hours. It’s not licensed as a cannabis dispensary and was selling hemp-based products at a potency level Kanzler said is allowed by the feds—““…as long as they come under . 3 percent THC,” Kanzler explained.

Kanzler argued that police lab tests did not find raided products that tested higher than .3. Yet, the St. Louis Board of Building Appeals denied Exotic Smokes’ request to reopen.

A major point of contention in the hearing was over a sign that sat on the sidewalk at one point that said, “Free Weed.”

Counselor Kanzler answered in the hearing that the owners are only 21 and 23 years old.

“They’re ambitious,” he said. “They’re enthusiastic and at times they are stupid.”

Kanzler added, “So, when they put up a sign that said ‘free weed,’ yeah, that was stupid, and it came down immediately.”

Oldenburg commented, “Stupidity isn’t an exception to the law.”

The store owners had also volunteered to move away from hemp-based products and only deal in traditional tobacco products. That did not make a difference to the commission, which still denied the appeal.

“There’s a lot of confusion out there about these products and the state is trying to regulate them. St. Louis County is trying to regulate them. The city hasn’t even bothered,” Kanzler said.

“There’s a loophole in our zoning code that if you’re under 3,000 square feet, these kinds of businesses can operate anywhere in the city. That’s something we’re working actively to fix,” Oldenburg said.

Exotic Smokes says it might now sue to reopen.