Senators Push for Updates to FDA Regulation of CBD Food Products and Dietary Supplements
HempUncategorized January 31, 2019
With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and the proliferation of food products containing CBD, we’ve been writing extensively about how the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and in particular, the United States Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) apply to the interstate sale of CBD products. Unfortunately, however, we have little…
Read more
Qualified Opportunity Zones, which provide a tremendous benefit to investors and low income communities, are the hot new topic in the real estate investment world. The cannabis industry is buzzing about investment opportunities in these zones, but we remain skeptical about the ability of cannabis business activity to qualify for the benefits under this new…
Read more
Federal Court Dismisses RICO Suit Against Sonoma County Cannabis Cultivator
CaliforniaUncategorized January 28, 2019
For a while, criminal conspiracy lawsuits against cannabis operations looked like a potentially promising strategy for cannabis prohibitionists to try and use litigation to reverse the trend of legalization. The idea is to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), a federal statute intended to combat organized crime–and which allows private rights of…
Read more
The FDA’s Stance on Hemp-Derived CBD as a Dietary Supplement (Part 2)
HempUncategorized January 27, 2019
This is the second installment in our series on the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp-CBD”). Our last post focused on the Drug Exclusion Rule, which essentially states that an article cannot be marketed as a dietary supplement if it was investigated or approved as a drug before the article was marketed as a…
Read more
The FDA’s Stance on Hemp-Derived CBD as a Dietary Supplement (Part 1)
HempUncategorized January 25, 2019
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…
Read more
MLK Day 2019: Marijuana and Civil Rights
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized January 21, 2019
Happy MLK Day! For our international readers, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal U.S. holiday marking the birthday of its eponymous civil rights hero. Dr. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. Dr. King was assassinated in…
Read more
A Shift in Nomenclature for Hemp-CBD Products
HempUncategorized January 20, 2019
In a recent post regarding the labeling requirements surrounding dietary supplements containing industrial hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp-CBD”), we alluded to a recent movement in the industry to rename Hemp-CBD products “full spectrum hemp.” We now take a closer look at the reasons behind this shift in nomenclature. Part of the impetus behind this movement might be…
Read more
On Wednesday, January 9, 2018, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Or) introduced the aptly designated H.R. 420, or the Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol Act. The bill is still so new that it’s not yet up on Congress’ site, but the apparent text for the bill can be found online. H.R. 420, if passed in its current form,…
Read more
FDA Enforcement Against Hemp-CBD Products Has Begun
HempUncategorized January 15, 2019
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…
Read more
The Even More Perplexing State of Hemp CBD in California
CaliforniaHempUncategorized January 14, 2019
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about the precarious state of industrial-hemp derived CBD in California. Since then, as everyone knows, President Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (or “Farm Bill”). A lot of people think that in the wake of the Farm Bill, hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp CBD”) is now…
Read more
