Some U.S. states and businesses are rushing to get on board the hemp train.
Although some still perceive hemp and its CBD-rich extracts as a public health threat (such as South Dakota’s governor who vetoed lawmakers’ attempt to set up a hemp program in the state), most agricultural states and many not-so-agricultural states are taking advantage of the recent farm appropriations bill’s hemp language.
They’re starting new hemp programs or revamping up old ones. Some are even officially declaring CBD to be a perfectly legal hemp-derived dietary supplement.
Although the feds have given the OK for states to develop hemp regulations, hemp and CBD companies are still seeking clarity over FDA policy related to CBD—guidance which the FDA says could run into 2020.
Also, in an attempt to speed up the FDA’s efforts to develop rules for CBD, a group of bipartisan lawmakers penned a letter to the now outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb asking the FDA about the agency’s intentions in relation to CBD. A similar, but separate, letter was sent to the USDA.
The agency announced Tuesday that it will be holding a public hearing in May to gather more information.
