New CBD Proposed Legislation

As Ronald Regan once said: “the 9 most terrifying words in the English language are…I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. 

Let’s just hope this is not the case here…

On January 15^th, Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat and top-ranking member of the U.S. House Agricultural Committee, introduced new legislation that could require federal food and agricultural regulators to treat hemp-derived CBD and products containing CBD as a dietary supplement under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C)...

The bill, if ratified, signals that lawmakers are considering changes that would open market opportunities for hemp derived CBD and related products.

Petersen said in a statement, “The last two farm bills (2014 and 2018) were landmark successes for hemp, but we are still very early in this process and growers need regulatory certainty.”

Supporters of the bill say the change would force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow CBD to be marketed in dietary supplements.

The bill would also require the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) to study and report market barriers for farmers producing hemp. This study would include:

·         Costs and requirements for establishing and operating a hemp testing program, including the costs and requirements for operating or contracting with a laboratory approved by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

·         Costs and requirements for the destruction of hemp crops determined to be above the 0.3% delta-9 THC or opportunities for remediation or alternative uses.

·         Feasibility of producer compliance with reporting requirements.

These “findings” of these studies would be submitted to the House and Senate agricultural committees within a year.

The bi-partisan bill indicates that there is already strong support for moving forward to forcing the FDA to act and establish proper guidelines for what has become a largely unregulated market. Some have gone as far as liking it to “the wild west” so to speak.

While there are a lot of good CBD products on the market, there are a lot of really bad ones that are operating in grey areas and not following existing regulations. That tends to leave consumers with a “bad taste in their mouths” and could damage future opportunities.

While we realize that nothing moves quickly in Washington, we are excited to see that at least some consideration is being given and hope for a successful outcome.

That’s our blog for now.

Thanks for reading and good luck…CBD Doc.