The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 also known as the 2018 Farm Bill was signed by President Donald Trump. The Senate passed the $867 billion-dollar bill 87 to 13 on December 11th followed by the House with a 369-47 vote on December 12th. The farm bill sets aside funds to help provide aid to American farmers.
It also removed industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. Industrial hemp is a variety of cannabis that contains 0.3% THC or less. The laws surrounding industrial hemp have a smoke screen of confusion hovering around them. Some people say that CBD as long as it’s derived from industrial hemp containing 0.3% THC or less is completely legal anywhere in the United States.
Others say it depends on the use of the CBD. CBD topical creams, lotions, salves, transdermal patches, and sublingual tinctures are completely legal as long as they are derived from industrial hemp and meet compliance. The confusion is more about CBD in food and beverage products.
You hear about all kinds of CBD infused products ranging from coffee and water to baked goods and sweet treats. The question is are they legal? According to current FDA rules, CBD is still prohibited from being added to food. On May 31st of 2018, the Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a public hearing on CBD.
Clearing the Smokescreen of Confusion
The purpose of this public hearing will be to investigate options for regulation of CBD in food and beverage products. The FDA is concerned about the safety, efficiency, and claims being made about CBD. Medical claims such as CBD helping to treat Alzheimer’s and cancer are particular areas the FDA is concerned with because they have not approved CBD for treatment of these conditions.
“The FDA continues to be concerned about the proliferation of egregious medical claims being made about products asserting to contain CBD that haven’t been approved by the FDA, such as the products and companies receiving warning letters today,”- Scott Gottlieb
This past Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission along with the Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to three CBD companies. PotNetwork Holdings, Nutra Pure, as well as Advanced Spine and Pain’s Relievus all received warning letters.
CBD will not be approved for food and beverage products overnight. Those making claims about the benefits of CBD need to be very careful to have evidence to support their claim. The wording a CBD company uses is extremely important. CBD may be just the thing your body needs to help improve your quality of life, though businesses could get in trouble for telling you this or making claims that their products can do so. If you like to form your own opinion, learn more about the therapeutic potentials of CBD and the science behind it by visiting the NCBI.