<div><strong>Help Protect Mary Lopez Carter &amp; Carolina Hemp Hut from ALE’s Overreach</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our Story</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My name is David Carter. My wife, Mary Lopez Carter, is the founder of Carolina Hemp Hut — a trusted, community-centered store that has been serving North Carolina since 2017.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Mary isn’t just a shop owner. She’s an educator, a caregiver, and the heart behind “Mama Mary” at Carolina Hemp Hut. She has taught over 500 people through her Learn Your CBDs classes, patiently explaining cannabinoids, terpenes, and natural plant compounds with clear metaphors that anyone can understand.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Doctors at Duke, UNC, and Cone may not be allowed to “officially” recommend hemp, but their patients often come to Carolina Hemp Hut. Why? Because Mary and her team provide safe, science-based education, never medical claims — just access to research, transparency, and compassionate guidance.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why Carolina Hemp Hut Matters</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>From the very beginning, Carolina Hemp Hut has stood for:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>Healing, not the high. Always hemp, always compliant.
</li>
<li>Transparency. Every product purchased with COAs, every customer carded 21+.
</li>
<li>Community service. Donating masks during COVID, supporting local events, and offering Hero discounts for teachers, firefighters, and first responders.
</li>
<li>Inclusivity. A staff that reflects the community: multiracial, multicultural, including veterans, autistic team members, and LGBTQ representation. Mary treats them like family — she invests in their training and their future.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Carolina Hemp Hut is one of the cleanest, most reputable hemp stores in the state.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What Happened</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Despite this record, the NC Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) division raided our stores in 2025. Products purchased <strong>legally </strong>under the<strong> 2018 U.S. Farm Bill</strong> were seized and treated as illegal marijuana under outdated Controlled Substances Act (CSA) standards.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Mary was humiliated with an aggressive arrest in front of me, her 60-year-old body cuffed too tightly despite her arthritis, even though she was no flight risk. Our stores were damaged. Employees and customers were mistreated. Deputies even told customers at the door: “They’re probably not going to be ever open again.”
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The NC Department of Revenue then piled on with inflated tax claims, weighing packaging and tubes as if they were contraband and further ignoring the fact that the product was hemp and would require proper weighing and testing in order to levy any sort of tax or penalty.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The truth is simple: <em>Carolina Hemp Hut followed the Farm Bill. ALE applied a different rulebook and fabricated a case.</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why This Matters</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>This fight is bigger than Mary.
</li>
<li>If ALE can target a law-abiding hemp business like Carolina Hemp Hut, they can target any hemp business, anywhere.
</li>
<li>If Mary accepts a plea deal, ALE will claim victory and set a precedent against all small hemp shops.
</li>
<li>If Mary fights and wins, it protects not just her name, but also every entrepreneur, employee, and customer who relies on hemp.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why We Need Your Help</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Legal defense is tremendously expensive. Mary has taken no salary since this started — every dollar has gone to paying her staff and keeping the doors open. But the costs of lawyers, filings, and appeals are more than we can carry alone.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Your donation will go directly to:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>Covering Mary’s legal defense.
</li>
<li>Keeping Carolina Hemp Hut alive during this fight.
</li>
<li>Protecting the integrity of hemp in North Carolina.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Something About Mary</strong>
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/94582019_175769620759971_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Mary isn’t just fighting for herself.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>She’s the woman who:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>Helped me live with primary intracranial malignant melanoma, a rare, aggressive brain cancer, since 1992 — researching tirelessly, step by step, to keep me alive.
</li>
<li>Built Carolina Hemp Hut as a safe, trusted space for healing when doctors said, “go home and die.”
</li>
<li>Educated thousands about hemp and wellness, always with honesty, never hype.
</li>
<li>Created opportunities for employees that others would turn away, and treated them like family.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Mary is my angel. She’s been the community’s angel, too. Now she needs the community to stand with her.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How You Can Help</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>Donate what you can — every dollar helps.
</li>
<li>Share this campaign with friends, family, and anyone who cares about fairness, hemp, or small businesses.
</li>
<li>Stand with Mary against ALE’s overreach.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Together, we can protect Mary, protect Carolina Hemp Hut, and protect the future of hemp in North Carolina.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for helping us fight for truth, fairness, and healing. Mary has spent years protecting others. Today, she needs your protection.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Added:</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The New Federal Hemp Ban Makes Our Fight Even Harder — and Even More Important</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Dear Carolina Hemp Hut Family, Friends, and Supporters,
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We want to share an urgent and deeply personal update about the situation facing Mary Lopez Carter, our team, and Carolina Hemp Hut.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In the middle of everything we are already fighting — including ALE’s unjust actions, Mary’s wrongful charges, and the financial devastation caused by the raids — the federal government has now passed a new law restricting and effectively banning many hemp-derived products nationwide.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This new legislation changes the very definition of hemp and places severe limits on the total amount of THC (including THCa) allowed in any product. The legal limit is now so low that even ordinary full-spectrum CBD, CBG, and other therapeutic hemp extracts may soon be impacted.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>And here’s the heartbreaking truth:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The products this ban threatens — CBD, CBG, full-spectrum tinctures, herbal blends — aren’t “intoxicants.” They’re lifelines for people who are hurting.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They’re used by people managing chronic pain, anxiety, trauma, inflammation, autoimmune conditions, neuropathy, sleep issues, and more. These are products that have helped countless individuals live fuller, more comfortable lives without pharmaceuticals, addiction, or harmful side effects.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For years, Carolina Hemp Hut has been a safe, reliable, transparent place to find these natural options.
</div>
<div>A place built around education, compassion, and healing — not the high.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Now, between the ALE raids and the new federal ban, the pressure on Mary and our business has intensified in a way we could never have imagined.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> What the New Federal Ban Means for CHH and for Mary
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Products we have always carried responsibly and legally may soon be restricted or removed.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Inventory has already lost value overnight due to legal uncertainty.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Customers depending on us for relief may suddenly find themselves without access.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Revenue needed to fight Mary’s case, recover from ALE’s damage, and keep the doors open is threatened even further.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our entire mission — helping people heal naturally — is now at risk.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are not just fighting to clear Mary’s name anymore.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are fighting to protect the right to hemp-based wellness for thousands of North Carolinians and millions of Americans who rely on safe, non-intoxicating plant-based support.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong> Why Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Every contribution helps Mary continue her legal fight against charges that never should have been filed.
</div>
<div>Every contribution helps keep CHH alive as these new federal rules take effect.
</div>
<div>Every contribution sends a message that natural wellness — CBD, CBG, full-spectrum hemp, herbal support — is worth defending.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We have always stood up for this community.
</div>
<div>Now we humbly ask this community to stand with us.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Mary has spent years helping educate people — from everyday customers to UNC and Duke medical professionals — on how to use hemp responsibly and safely.
</div>
<div>She has given her time, her energy, and her heart to anyone who needed guidance.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>And now she is suffering more than she ever has.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Between legal fees, lost revenue from the raids, the uncertainty surrounding the federal hemp ban, and the emotional toll of being wrongfully criminalized for helping people, Mary is bearing a weight no small business owner should ever have to carry.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> <strong>If you believe in natural health…</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you believe in fairness…
</div>
<div>If you believe in defending safe, responsible access to hemp…**
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>…then please consider supporting this GoFundMe today.
</div>
<div>Your help is needed now more than ever.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div> Donate or share today!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you — truly — for being part of this fight.
</div>
<div>Thank you for caring about Mary, our team, our customers, and the future of natural wellness in North Carolina.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are not giving up.
</div>
<div>And with your help, we won’t have to.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>

Rufus Jenkins

Anonymous

Luiyi Baranda

Al Ozolins

Margit Williford

Benjamin Pistole

Anthony Crim

Carol Komondy

Stand with Mary Lopez Carter: Defend Hemp & Small Business

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Stand with Mary Lopez Carter: Defend Hemp & Small Business

Still $4,799 to go. Help us build momentum.