Banking, intellectual property, food and beverage (and cosmetics), international trade, domestic trade, state laws, ag production contracts, etc., etc. When it comes to industrial hemp, the 2018 Farm Bill upended all of these things. Our cannabis business lawyers have been busy advising a large number of new hemp and hemp-CBD businesses getting in on the
Last week, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco and Trade Bureau (“TTB”), which regulates the alcohol industry, released new information regarding the use of hemp-derived ingredients in the formulation of alcoholic beverages. The industry circular came as a response to numerous inquiries from the alcohol industry about whether alcoholic beverages containing cannabidiol (“CBD”) derived from hemp
As we previously explained, under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), any substance that is intentionally added to food (including drinks) is a food additive. A food additive is subject to premarket review and approval by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), unless the substance is generally recognized as safe (“GRAS”) by qualified experts
Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) released a statement, in which the agency clarified that the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill rendered the importation of hemp seeds legal. As we previously explained, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, hemp seeds, and other derivatives, by removing them from the Controlled Substance Act. Accordingly,
We get a ton of questions about whether it’s legal to import hemp into the U.S. It’s a complicated question without a clear answer. We do know that the Drug Enforcement Administration has confirmed that the importation of cannabis plant material that falls outside of the Controlled Substance Act’s definition of “marihuana” (e.g., the mature
Last week, the departing Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) Commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, released a statement in which he announced that the agency, in collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), had issued warning letters to three CBD manufacturers: Advanced Spine and Pain LLC (d/b/a Relievus), Nutra Pure LLC and PotNetwork Holdings Inc.. The letters were sent “in response to
On April 2, 2019, the federal Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a press release on hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (“Hemp CBD”). This is Gottlieb’s first major official press release since the now infamous December 20, 2018 press release which came just hours after the 2018 Farm Bill passed. In that December 20 press
During a recent interview with the Brookings Institution, Scott Gottlieb, the departing head of the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), explained it would take several years for the agency to come up with rules that would legalize the use of hemp-derived cannabidiol (Hemp-CBD) in food products, unless Congress steps in. Gottlieb acknowledged the strong interest
Recently the United States Post Office (“USPS”) issued an advisory on “Acceptance Criteria for Cannabidiol (CBD) Oil and Products Containing CBD.” Those criteria are as follows: 1. A signed self certification statement, subject to the False Statements Act (18 U.S.C. § 1001). Statements must be printed on the mailer’s own letterhead, must be signed by
We advise some of the largest companies in the U.S. on hemp-derived cannabidiol (hemp-CBD) products. Those companies are filled with lawyers, and the lawyers have many specializations. Most of them, however, have little or no familiarity with hemp-CBD, and that is why they reach out and hire us. In the preliminary emails and phone calls,
