The U.S. House Agriculture Committee held a hearing last week to discuss the state of the hemp industry and how the government can continue to support the crop. Last week, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee heard from a number of hemp farmers as the panel sought input on hemp policy, NY1 reports. The hearing, “An Examination of the USDA Hemp Production Program” comes more than a year after provisions of the Farm Bill signed by former President Donald Trump (R) are set to expire...
CBD is “safe and tolerable” in healthy adults and should be available without a prescription, a panel of scientists recommended to Canada’s top health regulator Thursday. The endorsement comes three years after Health Canada first appointed a team of experts to consider whether CBD should be sold by mainstream retailers and not limited to adult-use cannabis stores or by doctor’s recommendation...
Study to seek first clear evidence for effectiveness of cannabinoid-based products against brain-wasting disease. Denver-based MedPharm Research, a cannabis researcher specializing in neuropharmacology with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, announced its proposed study of the therapeutic effects of CBD on Alzheimer’s patients has been selected for funding by Colorado State University’s Institute of Cannabis Research (“ICR”)...
Vermont is giving up on its hemp program less than one year after a state plan for the sector was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The state’s farmers will operate directly under federal rules beginning next year after the state program, which received the federal farm agency’s approval in late 2021, ends in December 2022. Anson Tebbetts, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM), informed the USDA of the decision in a letter earlier this month...
A new Minnesota law that took effect last week is intended to prohibit the sale of products containing high amounts of delta-8 THC but also has established a relatively high limit for total THC in hemp foods. The measure, signed by Gov. Tim Walz in May, and which went into force Friday, July 1, allows adults 21 and over to possess and consume hemp-based edibles and beverages that contain up to five milligrams of total combined THC – such as delta-9, delta-8 and delta-10 – per serving, with individual packages limited to 50mg...
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) last week signed the bill to make permanent the state’s hemp program, just one day before the pilot program was set to expire. Had lawmakers not approved a measure prior to June 30, the pilot program would have sunset July 1 and effectively re-criminalized hemp production and sales of hemp products in the state...
While the rest of the nation was celebrating the liberation of cannabis on 4/20, the police in Kansas chose that day to launch surprise raids on retailers selling delta-8 products. Now, the state is being sued by the owner of Terpene Distribution, Murray Dines, who had over $120,000 in cash seized and his inventory confiscated...
Delta-8 THC products will be available only in Oregon’s licensed recreational cannabis outlets after a state law passed last year that placed the CBD-derived compound under the same regulations that cover legal marijuana. The law, which becomes effective this Friday, July 1, makes Oregon the first state in the U.S. to order removal of such synthetic cannabinoids from grocery stores and other retail outlets. Delta-8 products come in such forms as vape liquids, tinctures and extracts, gummies, candies, cookies and drinks...
Several companies have announced plans to develop CBD business in Thailand following the removal of hemp and marijuana from the country’s list of dangerous drugs last week. The changes cleared the way for the processing of cannabis flowers after the government in late 2020 started allowing manufacturers to produce hemp seed oil- and extract-based cosmetics, and products from plant stalks, and last year approved hempseed oil derivatives for use in food and drinks...
The U.S. hemp industry is in a period of correction after initially overheated production since passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. Over the past three years, there has been a significant decline in U.S. hemp acreage, but rather than perceived as a negative with fear that the crop has fizzled, it should be welcomed as a much-needed reset for an imperative balance between supply and market demand...
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) last week signed a bill legalizing up to 5 milligrams of THC in hemp-derived food and beverage products. The products can only be sold to those 21-and-older. The bill effectively legalizes products with low levels of delta-8 and delta-9 THC in concentrations up to 5 milligrams per serving, and up to 50 milligrams per package. Kurtis Hanna, lobbyist for the Minnesota chapter of the NORML, said she thinks the measure is a way “in which Minnesotans are going to be able to check out what it’s like to have legal products being sold on shelves in a non-gray market"...
A parliamentary group in the UK has recommended the government abandon the current system for approving CBD products through the regime for new or “novel” foods, and in its place institute a food-safety system based on certificates of analysis (COAs). The recommendation would radically alter the CBD hemp landscape in the UK, unlocking the country’s full potential to meet growing domestic demand estimated at roughly £690 million (~€814.5 million; ~$905.7 million) and create export opportunities for producers...
The North Carolina Senate voted to permanently legalize hemp on Tuesday and some lawmakers are set to discuss the legalization of medical cannabis today. The North Carolina Senate on Tuesday voted unanimously on a measure that would permanently legalize hemp in the state, defining it as having less than 0.3% delta-9 THC and excluding it from the state’s controlled substances list, WRAL reports. State lawmakers temporarily legalized hemp in 2015 as part of a pilot program that expires at the end of June...
Farming legislation that would firmly establish the legality of industrial hemp in North Carolina has passed the state’s Senate. The Senate yesterday approved its annual Farm Act, including updated language which would remove hemp from the state’s controlled substances list, a change that is necessary because hemp has been legal in the state only under a pilot hemp program started in 2017 that ends July 1. The measure, which now goes to the state’s House of Representatives, would also set the official level for THC that defines hemp from marijuana at 0.3%...
Cannabinoid manufacturers have less than a week to submit data and comments to U.S. health regulators considering whether to allow extracts such as CBD into foods and dietary supplements. The Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an advisory panel made up of nutrition and drug-safety experts, is meeting June 14 to discuss “challenges in evaluating the safety of dietary supplement and food ingredients with predicted pharmacological activity, utilizing cannabinoids as a case study.”...
If states are the laboratories of democracy, as the saying goes, those labs are getting some surprising results this year as they experiment with ways to regulate hemp derivatives in the face of federal inaction on the rise of intoxicating cannabinoids made from newly legal hemp plants. More than a dozen states have taken up legislation so far this year to either ban or regulate the conversion of hemp extracts into intoxicating cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC...
An adult-use marijuana initiative is headed to the ballot again in South Dakota this fall, but this one is narrow in scope: It paves the way for possession and home grow but not a regulated, commercial market.
South Dakota’s secretary of state office ruled this week that Initiated Measure 27, put forth by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot with 25,023 valid signatures based on a random sample. That total easily exceeded the 16,961 required signatures...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that hemp-derived delta-8 THC is legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, in a case arising out of a trademark dispute in California. Upholding a U.S. District Court’s decision, the appeals court found that the Farm Bill’s definition of legal hemp “expressly applies to ‘all’ such downstream products so long as they do not cross the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC threshold.” The ruling is a victory for proponents of delta-8 THC, who have argued that the compound is a legal derivative of legal hemp...
Minnesota adults older than 21 will be able to buy intoxicating hemp-derived THC products in grocery and convenience stores under a bill that lawmakers approved late Sunday. The measure also allows CBD to be placed in food and drinks, a reversal from current policy in Minnesota. The bill, which awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, allows both delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC products as well as other intoxicants derived from hemp...
Delta-8 THC derived from hemp is “lawful” and eligible for trademark protection, a federal appeals court ruled in a vaping dispute. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling Thursday that because Congress legalized not just hemp but its “derivatives” and “extracts” in the 2018 Farm Bill, delta-8 THC is legal if it is derived from a hemp extract – in this case, CBD...
Hemp and medical cannabis trader Canxchange has added a networking service to its commodities-based platform, giving all stakeholders the opportunity to directly engage with the company’s network. The new tool lets individual users and businesses connect with the entire Canxchange universe through a public chat feature, and gives them instant access to the company’s sales and support team...
U.S. health authorities issued their first-ever warning letters about delta-8 THC Wednesday, saying the hemp-derived isomer “has psychoactive and intoxicating effects and may be dangerous to consumers.” The warning letters come eight months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a vague consumer update expressing concern about the health effects of delta-8 THC products...
Recommendations from the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for maximum allowable THC levels in CBD products are much too low and could be calamitous for domestic producers, a Parliamentary group has suggested. ACMD last December issued guidance suggesting a THC limit of 50 micrograms (mcg) per serving – a highly restrictive level that disincentivizes production, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of lawmakers and stakeholders advising on the UK framework for CBD...
While the global food supply chain has been shaken by crop shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more logistical disruptions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the plant-based foods market has shown remarkable resilience, and the hemp sector is looking to establish the grain as a superfood.
An additional 2,445 CBD products have been preliminarily approved by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), bringing the total number of products that still have a chance for full authorization to roughly 6,000. FSA added the products yesterday in response to an uproar over its approval system that followed the March 31 release of an original list of 3,536 products that advanced in the agency’s system for certifying new or “novel” foods...
The cannabinoid trends have come full circle. After CBD hit the mainstream, hemp companies realized there was a lot of potential in delta-8 THC, and around that time, tons of new contenders popped up, including delta-10, THC-O, THC-P and HHC, but one familiar name has come back around to dominate the industry: delta-9 THC. It’s the only cannabinoid that’s been specifically made illegal, but through the specific definitions used in the bill that resurrected the hemp industry, companies have found a way to get it on the market, apparently legally.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) hit back at the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) Tuesday, restating its position that cannabis extracts that go beyond the limit for THC during the production process fall under the agency’s purview. DEA and HIA lawyers sparred in a U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia yesterday. HIA and South Carolina CBD maker RE Botanicals filed a lawsuit challenging the rule in September 2020. The DEA rule, which has yet to be enforced, would criminalize CBD hemp at any point in the production process when the material’s THC levels rise above the federal limit of 0.3%, under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act...
Cone Denim is partnering with hemp processing firm BastCore on a U.S.-grown hemp denim collection using hemp cultivated in Alabama and U.S.-derived cotton dyed with natural indigo grown in Tennessee. Using hemp in the production of denim instead of cotton saves 50% of the water used in production and requires no chemicals, wet processing, pesticides, or herbicides, the report says...
Global supply-chain woes – first triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 – have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to feel the added fallout for months. Several ancillary company executives told MJBizDaily the problems are likely to continue this year, further forcing up costs and making it even more difficult for companies to secure key supplies such as specialty packaging, chemical solvents used in concentrate production and stainless steel...
A recent study by the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine found that feeding cattle CBDA-rich hemp decreased the animals’ stress hormone cortisol and inflammation biomarkers. A study by researchers at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine suggests that feeding cattle hemp with high cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) content led to reduced stress and increased the times the cattle lie down, according to a Beef Central report.
The number of CBD products still in the running for full authorization in the UK has expanded following an announcement that 70 applications covering a total of 3,536 products were advanced by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Products on a list released Thursday, and those previously advanced by the FSA may remain on sale while those that failed inclusion and any other non-compliant products on the market must now be withdrawn from consumer outlets, and may not be traded or sold in the UK...
U.S. health and trade authorities this week issued a record seven warning letters in a single day to companies making CBD, the biggest federal action against the industry in over a year. Warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission targeted companies making COVID-related claims. It was the first time so many CBD companies had been targeted in a single day...
Utah has outlawed smokable hemp and CBD in food under a new law that also punts oversight of the plant’s production to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The law, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox Monday, makes Utah the sixth state to defer to federal authorities on regulating hemp cultivation. The law also makes it a crime to grow, process or possess smokable hemp and to add hemp to “a conventional food or beverage.”...
The political and economic effects of Russia's incursion into Ukraine are only now becoming apparent, with repercussions felt throughout the world's agricultural industries. As a result, the war is anticipated to have an extended influence on the hemp industry in the United States, if not indefinitely. The war in Ukraine is expected to have a wide range of influence on hemp production, but none of them could say with confidence how significant and long-lasting the conflict's impact would be...
Cannabis retailers in Georgia won at least a temporary legal victory against an Atlanta-area district attorney who had been aggressively trying to shut down hemp-derived THC product sales. According to the Associated Press, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall issued a 30-day restraining order against Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gaston, who had seized millions of dollars in hemp-derived THC products and was prosecuting the retailers that were selling them...
It’s decision time for a Texas ban on smokable hemp, with the Texas Supreme Court set to hear arguments Tuesday about the 2019 ban that has been on hold because of legal challenges. The case will determine whether hemp producers in the nation’s second-largest state can access a sector that could generate $400 million in annual sales by 2025...
The market for CBD-infused products is red hot and growing at a rapid rate. According to Brightfield Group, the top categories for CBD products over the next five years are tinctures, gummies, topicals, capsules and drinks. Each category is projected to reach over $1 billion in product sales by 2026...
The 2022 omnibus spending bill signed by President Joe Biden Saturday calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set rules for CBD, and asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to review the possibility of increasing the allowable level of THC in hemp plants from the current threshold of 0.3%...
We will use the information you provide on this form to contact you and to provide updates and marketing. By clicking above to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Site Usage. You can unsubscribe from marketing anytime. For more details, review our Privacy Policy.
