Apparently, Jackson County is taking this whole fake weed ban thing pretty seriously. Coffee Wonk owner Micah Riggs has been charged with three felonies, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a chemical with intent to create a controlled substance.
The charges come six months after the Wonk's products were seized by police -- not in a raid, mind you, but because the business was robbed and Riggs called the cops.
We profiled Riggs and the Coffee Wonk in December ("Buzz Factory") because, unlike some of the people profiting from fake reefer madness, Riggs was using his new bankroll to reinvest in midtown. Since the Coffee Wonk took off as a premiere retailer of synthetic pot, Riggs has invested in a restaurant and a recording studio and has more plans to revitalize the block.
In interviews for that story done shortly after the police confiscated his products, Riggs told us how his staff was robbed at gunpoint one morning, and when the police arrived, they seemed more interested in the stock than the robbery. The incident wasn't long after the statewide ban on K2 synthetic marijuana, but Riggs claimed that the incense he was then selling was made from a different compound that had not yet been criminalized. Similar compounds were also being sold at various KC gas stations, head shops and incense shops. Riggs also claimed that he voluntarily signed off on the search that led to the confiscation.
"[The officer] told me I ought to sign off on a search, just as a sign of good
faith that would help things along," Riggs told The Pitch at the time. "I thought it was the right thing,
and I want to get along with the police. I guess I was stupid."
Police say lab tests of the seized products revealed synthetic cannabinoids that were criminalized under the state ban. Though police finished the tests in October, Riggs wasn't charged until last week. Also charged with possession of a chemical with intent to manufacture a controlled substance was Philrey Pamatmat, a recent University of Missouri-Kansas City graduate with a degree in chemistry, whom Riggs hired to help study the compounds and potentially create their own brand.
Riggs isn't the first area man to look into creating his own brand of synthetic pot.
Coincidentally, the product Riggs began carrying after the K2 ban, and included in the inventory seized, is called Syn and it was created right here in KC. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that former KC trash man and Syn inventor Derek Williams had sold $1.5 million of the product in at least 10 states, making him the Scarface of fake weed. Unlike Riggs, Williams seems to have escaped any legal repercussions. So far.
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Lawmakers are in the process of closing any loopholes that currently exist with laws pertaining to some herbal incense products, but there efforts will prove to be fruitless in the end. The prohibition of marijuana has created this demand for legal marijuana alternatives. A rather prosperous niche that will be tapped into for as long as marijuana continues to be illegal. There are many places one may still buy k2 incense and according to the vendors, like http://www.buyherbalincense.com the k2 herb products they sell are legal everywhere.
Providing there are age restrictions, what makes whatever someone decides to put into their body any of your business? It's funny how people go on an on about the government taking away our rights, and then they turn around and support bans on marijuana and even this K2 herb stuff. Grow up and get real. Products like K2 incense are a result of the complete and utter failure that is Prohibition. These bans have been issued for at least the past year and it looks like they've done no good at all because places like, http://www.buyk2incense.com / to this day have products that are legal in all of the United States.
The cops are in the wrong and won't be too hard to prove this in court, they seized OLD product from 7 months ago and are charging him as if he was selling it current, which he is not. I'm assuming you're a cop for the KCPD. Go kill yourself and make the world better, thanks.
wow ...this is so crazy i work right upstairs from his shop and he got robbed today(pssbly)....but i like it all natural :) ...so the lawmakers need to go ahead an make this life saving...pain free ...great pasttime..... legal....wow the economy may bounce bck start taxing it .
I was talking about your failures as a "journalist" not as a man.To say-
"Great American men have always taken advantage of the public's need to get fucked up as a way to build their fortunes. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp. Joe Kennedy built a dynasty on bootleg liquor."- is idiotic.
And to then shrug off criticism by saying,"I was gonna do a fact check but then I got a little high" is insulting.Why don't you stop being glib and tell the truth-you don't smoke weed do you?I know you don't smoke because no self-respecting smoker would ever blame their own stupidity on being high(nor would any self-respecting journalist for that matter).Smoking weed doesn't make one dumb(it actually stimulates thought) anymore than it makes one lazy.I find it hard to believe that you would need to fact check rather or not two of our founding fathers were out there hustling weed.I have been reading your articles since late August and I've noticed anytime somebody corrects you,you always offer up some hip,glib,retort that(much like your writing in general) requires little thought.In my opinion it shows a contempt for your readers and a lack of respect for your chosen profession.
Micah Riggs was not "poked,prodded,or pissed on by the KC police." They presented him with a voluntary search warrant and he signed it like a dipshit instead of telling them to go fuck themselves like any intelligent person would.Furthermore,K2 was not created as a legal alternative to pot.If it was,it would be sold and marketed as such.John W. Huffman(the organic chemist and "creator" of K2) said himself that he did not create it for that purpose and that anybody that smokes it is stupid.The reason they have banned it is because the effects have not been studied or approved by the FDA.I personally don't give a shit.I've smoked it and sold it.I know many people involved in the business(like the owners of Syn) and I have nothing but good things to say about them.You say the real story here is about "someone who is attempting to pour much-needed money into KC at a time when we need it most" and that's all well and good,I'm just saying that opening more business's in midtown doesn't make him a good guy.Peter Rugg stated,"We profiled Riggs and the Coffee Wonk in December ("Buzz Factory") because, unlike some of the people profiting from fake reefer madness, Riggs was using his new bankroll to reinvest in midtown." Well,what the fuck does he care?And how does he know?I know B(the owner of Glassroots) re-invested his fat bankroll in Ten minute t-shirts.That's a midtown business.Furthermore,should these other businessmen feel guilty about using the profits to clothe,feed,and educate their families?My point was,just because he's re-investing in midtown doesn't make him a good guy.He might just be greedy...or stupid(or both).You say," Do we really have nothing better to focus on than making an example out of someone who has been more open and honest than most businessmen could ever dream of." You're right,in this instance he was open and honest and now he's looking at three felonies because he broke the law(allegedly).You and Mr. Rugg can shrug it off and say,"Apparently, Jackson County is taking this whole fake weed ban thing pretty seriously," and to that I say bullshit.The only reason they charged him is because he handed over all the evidence.He should've told them to do their job and investigate the robbery instead of letting them investigate and interogate him.Micah Riggs used to say,"I'm in the political fight of my life." I thought it was a pretty deluded and self-righteous statement for a drug dealer to make but now he really is and I got no sympathy for him.That's the way the game goes.You say you are Mr. Riggs friend.That's funny cause in four years I have only met one other person that would claim him as a friend and that person was the chemist that Micah hustled into working for free(or close to it) and risking his freedom.I am not disillusioned-I was merely venting.And as for dirty laundry,he should count his blessings that I'm not airing it from the witness stand.That being said,I hope they both beat the charges just because too many innocent(and guilty) people have had there lives destroyed by the prison system.I am not confusing or side-stepping the issue.There is no vote or debate.They made certain chemicals illegal and now the only issue is rather or not Mr. Riggs is guilty of posessing them.It doesn't matter if he is doing good deeds or giving all the money to charity.All that matters is if he broke the law.
I knew that he was under the watchful eye of the law once I seen his face on the cover of The Pitch last year. That's real fucked up..because that Syn shit can get you fairly high : )
{and you niggas is on here writing long ass paragraphs ans shit..da fuck}
I don't think the real underlying issue here has anything to do with incense, hemp, marijuana or k2, actually, Larry David. I think the real story is someone who is attempting to pour much-needed money into Kansas City at a time when we need it most, only to be poked, prodded and pissed on by the KC Police on a power trip brought on by lawmakers who have had enough of the very crime that is diminishing business downtown.
The truth is that as long as alcohol and cigarettes are sold openly, why are we wasting the time and money to chase tails, banning chemical after chemical created as a legal alternative to pot? Do we really have nothing better to focus on than making an example out of someone who has been more open and honest than most businessmen could ever dream of. Yes, Larry David - I too, know Mr Riggs well and am so glad to call him a friend.
I'm sorry you're so disillusioned with life that a blog of a soapbox is all you can muster to air your dirty laundry, but I feel you have sidestepped every major issue within this story and have made it merely about yourself and your experiences.
I hope you find peace and understanding, rather than mudslinging and anger.
I forgive all your criticism because you are a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, and that show's just great and I would like to have lunch with you so we can talk about my failures as a man and human being and the corrections I should make. Unless Larry David is your real name, in which case, farty fart fart fart.
I love how you write about this guy like he's some great philanthropist just because he's investing his money in other business ventures.He's opening a restaruant-not a homeless shelter!!I don't think more min.-wage jobs are going to change people's lives any more than another restaruant is going to "revitalize" midtown.The only thing this guy accomplished is amassing a vast fortune and then pissing it away on bad investments and uneeded legal expsenses.What's ironic is,he'd be perfectly fine if he'd listened to his friends that helped amass that fortune,but he was too busy stabbing them in the back.We told him it was a bad idea to continue selling that stuff after the ban.We told him it was a bad idea to go on t.v. bragging about how good business was since the ban took effect.We asked him why the hell he was setting up some half-ass lab in a room that didn't even have access to running water,let alone proper safety equipment.But he didn't listen.Unfortunately for him,he didn't even listen when I told him the only thing any sane person should ever say to the police is "you can talk to my lawyers." I feel bad for a lot of people involved in this.Good people that left their jobs in order to work for Micah Riggs only to find themselves hustled and exploited and soon to be out of work.I feel bad for the chemist(who is a young kid fresh out of college) that Mr. Riggs conned into working for little money and a empty promise.Funny how people think they can get away with highway robbery just because they have a business license and a lawyer.Micah Riggs is a capitalist scumbag that was against drugs until the day he realised he could make a quick buck and a name for himself.He likes to talk about how he studied K2 before selling it because"he didn't want to risk people's health."That is bullshit.The only thing he wanted to know is if I thought any of the local weed dealers might retaliate for stealing their business(and yes I know that question is stupid for a multitude of reasons but that's just how stupid this man is) but even if it was true,it's not like he's the FDA.Not that you'd have to be to figure out it's harmful.When all of your customers are coming in with the same cough every day,it becomes crystal-fucking-clear that your'e selling poisen to the masses and pretending it's a safe,legal,alternative to weed.But hey,I'd just like Mr. Riggs to return my Portishead cd(the Third) and all my other personal possessions and I'll just write the betrayel off as a loss the same way I did our friendship.
P.S. I may be a bad speller,Mr. Rugg,but you sir,are a bad reporter.Your'e the kind of reporter that says things like"George Washington grew hemp." As if hemp were the same thing as canabis.And then when two seperate people point out your misleading statement,you shrug it off with a cutesy"I was high when I wrote that." It's that kind of amatuer,who gives a fuck,journalism that's keeping you boxed into being the Pitch's fake weed guy instead of a real reporter.Then again,considering you don't know the difference between hemp,weed,and incense-your'e lucky to have that job.
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