On February 4, the European Union (EU)’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs added cannabidiol (CBD) “derived from extract or tincture or resin of cannabis” as a legal cosmetic ingredient to its CosIng guidelines. CosIng is a database of cosmetic regulations that expressly provides for authorized and unlawful ingredients and sets forth their
Last month, I spent a Saturday scraping together a syllabus for the Cannabis Law and Policy class I teach at Lewis & Clark Law School here in Portland, Oregon. In one unit, we go through the regulatory history of Oregon cannabis. From an academic perspective, it’s amazing to look at all the things that have
The Oregon legislative session kicked off in earnest last week (online) with 28 proposed cannabis bills crowding the docket. We’ll probably see another dozen or so between now and June. In this post, I will run down the list and offer brief comments on each offering. Before diving in, though, some context will be useful.
Last Friday, January 15th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”) announced today’s publication of its hemp production final rule in the Federal Register, which will go into effect on March 22, 2021. This final rule builds on the interim final rule (the “IFR”) that was published on October 31, 2019. It includes revisions based
California has a rocky history when it comes to hemp-derived CBD. Despite the fact that the state adopted a robust medical and recreational cannabis program, for years it has taken the mystifying position that many kinds of hemp-derived products simply can’t be sold. Essentially, foods, beverages, and dietary supplements are a no-go according to the
MAG Hemp Regulations In October, Ecuador’s agriculture ministry (MAG) released hemp regulations, in the form of Acuerdo Ministerial No. 109 (English). This follows the National Assembly’s 2019 decriminalization of cannabis with a THC content of less than 1.0% THC (which entered into forced on June 21, 2020). The regulations distinguish between industrial hemp (cáñamo para
The last few years have been a wild ride for the United States’ hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) industry. Ever since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the position that CBD is unlawful in many consumer products, the industry has faced many questions about what it can and cannot do. To add fuel to this fire,
One of the coolest things we’ve done here at Harris Sliwoski was work with the National Credit Union Association on its June 2020 guidance for servicing hemp-related businesses. Back when we first started working with small, Northwest credit unions in 2014 and 2015 (on the THC banking side) we never imagined being hired one day
As reported by Hemp Grower magazine, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced legislation on December 15 that would amend the definition of hemp from .3% THC to 1% THC. The bill would also make other major changes to the USDA’s interim final rule, which would affect hemp growers, processors, manufacturers, and shippers. The legislation is
Earlier this fall, several news outlets reported on a lawsuit alleging that federal and state law enforcement agencies in California wrongfully destroyed a hemp grow worth more than $3 million. (See here, and here). The case, Agro Dynamics, LLC v. DEA, et al., was filed in the federal district court for the Southern District of
