canna law blog

USDA and FDA Shed Light on Hemp and CBD

On February 27, 2019 both the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) provided new insights and guidance related to their proposed regulatory processes for hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill. I will summarize these agency statements below, and give some context for what hemp and CBD businesses can

canna law blog

Are CBD-Infused Alcohol Beverages Legal?

The recent wave of crackdowns on cannabidiol (“CBD”)-infused alcohol beverages has further exacerbated public confusion regarding the legal status of the cannabis plant’s non-psychoactive compound. This post provides an overview of the regulatory framework of alcoholic beverages, including pre-manufactured industrial hemp-infused drinks and “homemade” alcoholic drinks infused with CBD oil or extracts. Pre-Manufactured Alcohol Beverages

canna law blog

Idaho State Police Are Not Required to Return Seized Hemp (Yet)

Earlier this week, I wrote about how hemp businesses should not yet rely on the 2018 Farm Bill to protect them from their products being seized. This is because although Section 10114 of the 2018 Farm Bill prohibits states from interfering with the interstate transport of hemp and hemp products, that protection is limited to

canna law blog

Transporting Hemp Across State Lines is Still Risky

Back in September 2018, I wrote about how important it was for hemp businesses to carefully plan the routes they would use to ship hemp and hemp products, including hemp-derived CBD. This is because some states are hostile towards hemp and do not recognize a difference between hemp and marijuana. My article was written prior

canna law blog

Exporting CBD Food Just Got Harder: The European Union Makes a Move

We’ve been writing a lot on this blog about the regulation and sale of cannabidiol (“CBD”) products at the state and federal levels. The United States is not the only international actor, however, that is concerned with regulating the sale of CBD products, including CBD-infused foods. The European Food Safety Authority (“EFSA”), the European equivalent of

canna law blog

State Crackdowns Against CBD Products Have Begun

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) began seizing various cannabidiol (“CBD”) products from store shelves. These enforcement actions reflected the implementation of the agency’s position that CBD, regardless of the source from which it is derived, cannot be lawfully sold for human consumption. A few states, including states that have adopted industrial

canna law blog

The FDA’s Stance on Hemp-Derived CBD as a Dietary Supplement

Since the 2014 Farm Bill passed, products containing cannabidiol (“CBD”) derived from hemp (“Hemp-CBD”) have become widely popular and available in a wide range of stores and online. The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has, for the most part, sat on the sidelines. The FDA has occasionally sent out warning letters to Hemp-CBD distributors who

canna law blog

Industrial Hemp and the Banks: Slow Going

We have spilled a lot of ink on this blog related to the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp at the federal level. It’s huge news. And there are so many ramifications, from food law to trademarks to the financial services environment. This blog post is going to cover financial institutions and hemp at about

canna law blog

FDA Enforcement Against Hemp-CBD Products Has Begun

On January 3rd, according to the owner of a smoke shop in Yuma, Arizona, officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized a variety of CBD products from the store’s shelves. The officials took fewer than fifty items and told the owner to anticipate follow-up paperwork within seven to ten business days. According to