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…
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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…
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On April 24, 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) would begin accepting applications of seed-propagated hemp for plant variety protection. In the United States, there are three different ways to go about protecting intellectual property associated with plant varieties: Plant Variety Protection – available for…
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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,…
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The Battle for California Cannabis Access is a Roadmap for States Considering Legalization
CaliforniaUncategorized April 23, 2019
Over the last few years, California has gained a reputation of being a state where cannabis is completely legal and out in the open. In reality, cannabis isn’t nearly as “free” as people think it is in the Golden State, with many cities outright banning commercial cannabis activities. Right now, there is an ongoing battle…
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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…
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The SAFE Banking Act just got a new, prominent supporter – on April 9, 2019, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pledged to take a look at the legislation that would allow financial institutions to service cannabis businesses. While the Treasury Secretary admitted he’s not familiar with the Act, he acknowledged that the current conflict between federal…
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FDA Issues Warning Letters to CBD Manufacturers Making “Over-The-Line” Health Claims
HempUncategorized April 13, 2019
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…
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Senators Wyden and McConnell Press for Hemp Industry Banking Services
HempUncategorized April 6, 2019
Shortly after the 2018 Farm Bill passed, legalizing industrial hemp, we predicted that banking services for hemp businesses would be slow going. That has proven to be the case. For this reason, a bipartisan pair of U.S. Senators, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), sent individualized letters to four federal…
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Last week, we explored whether the addition of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) to food and beverages is actually unlawful, notwithstanding FDA policy. In that article we explained that we hadn’t seen much in the way of FDA enforcement, and that we “believe that FDA will likely continue to act where people make health claims that violate the…
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