NY hemp producers want Cuomo to issue rules for extracts before temp regulations expire

New York hemp growers and processors want Gov. Andrew Cuomo to issue guidelines from a bill last year to regulate the sale of extracts from the plant, like CBD, before 2014 Farm Bill pilot provisions expire on Oct. 31.

The bill Cuomo signed last year would regulate CBD-infused products like tinctures, lotions and salves, but the law doesn’t cover CBD in food and drinks, Syracuse.com reported Tuesday.

New York has some 700 hemp growers, producing thousands of pounds for more than 100 in-state processing facilities this fall, according to Hemp Industry Daily‘s 2020 U.S. Hemp Harvest Outlook.

“It’s going to be a disaster if they have to sit on this much hemp,” said Allan Gandelman, a Cortland hemp grower and processor who is also president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association. “We need these regulations now.”

Gandelman said the rules need to be issued now to allow a 60-day comment period and applications, which are to be issued Jan. 1.

New York decided against developing and submitting an in-state hemp regulation plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month. The result is that USDA, not in-state authorities, will be charged with regulating hemp production in New York after Nov. 1, when the national rule is set to take effect.

New York growers and processors worry that without the guideline Cuomo signed last year, they’ll be operating in a gray area.

New York State Health Department spokeswoman Jill Montag said in a statement that the agency “is finalizing a comprehensive set of regulations to launch the hemp industry in NYS. … These regulations will outline the necessary requirements for licensure, processing and retail sale of cannabinoid hemp for human consumption (i.e. CBD products), which includes but is not limited to labeling, testing and advertising standards.”