Farm Bill good news for hemp products. The Farm Bill passed late in 2018 makes industrial hemp legal in the US.
Farm Bill good news for hemp products
Farm Bill good news for hemp products. This is only hemp with less than 0.3 percent of the psychoactive content of
THC. So, forget about the cannabis that makes you high but it is good news for hemp growers and products.
Growing Cannabis Statewide
Now it is legal to grow, make, distribute and sell CBD from hemp anywhere in the US. With many believing CBD has medicinal properties it will make access easier for those who use it for medical conditions. There are still ambiguities though. The FDA maintains it is still illegal to sell CBD as a dietary supplement. Although this may be true, Canaccord’s research shows products are already selling in some supermarkets with more to follow this year.
Canaccord said farmers are now free to grow hemp anywhere in the U S for medical and industrial uses. They also rated the following stocks as the most promising:
- Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc – $CAD19.83
- Canopy Growth Corporation – $CAD62.81
- Curaleaf Holdings Inc – $CAD10.05
- Liberty Health Sciences Inc – $CAD1.10
- 1933 Industries Inc – $CAD0.50
- DionyMed Brands Inc – $CAD2.67
- KushCo. Holdings Inc – $CAD5.81
- MJardin Group Inc – $CAD3.02.
US Farm Bill – what it means
With the passing of the Farm Bill, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can regulate hemp farming. Hemp farmers will now have access to better protection for their crops and covered under the
1980 Federal Crop Insurance Act. The USDA and state agricultural departments will work together to put plans in place to regulate and licence hemp growing.
The Farm Bill also removes CBD derived from hemp from the Controlled Substances Act making it legal to sell for medical purposes. This is a real windfall for the CBD industry. A
Brightfield Group 2018 CBD study said the industry could be worth up to $22 billion in 2022. So, now is the time to get in on the ground floor if you want to invest in this product and its future.
CBD and the FDA
The FDA clarified how the passing of the Farm Bill will affect how it manages CBD products. Saying that while the Bill changed the status of some products, there were some it did not affect. It still has the authority to regulate products that contain cannabis or compounds derived from cannabis. It is still responsible for protecting the public from products that are falsely advertised or harmful.
CBD medical claims needs FDA approval
It warned the producers of CBD products not to claim they could diagnose, treat, or prevent medical conditions without FDA approval. Making these types of claims breaches the law and puts people at risk as there has been no testing to prove they are effective. The FDA advises producers to stop marketing these products as benefitting health and wellness. If they want to market their products this way, they have to go through the FDA approval process. An example is
Epidioliex for treating epilepsy, which has ingredients derived from cannabis. The FDA approved it before the Farm Bill passed as it proved its therapeutic properties through clinical trials. If other producers making CBD products want to advertise their products as being therapeutic or medical properties, they need scientific data to prove their claims when applying to the FDA.
Other products from hemp
The FDA issued notices recognizing three other hemp products as safe. These are hempseed protein, hulled hemp seeds and hemp seed oil as they only contain traces of THC or CBD. It is legal to use these products in supplements and foods without seeking FDA approval. But they cannot make claims about medical benefits and must list all ingredients derived from hemp on the label.
History of hemp
Hemp comes from the same plant as cannabis but produced so it has almost no
THC content. THC is the psychoactive ingredient that makes people high. Growing hemp in the US began in the 1600s to make clothes, rope and sails by the English settlers. In the 1700s American colonies grew hemp as a raw material for ship building.
In 1970 President Richard Nixon added cannabis to Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act. This made it illegal. Now hemp has come a full circle. The Farm Bill will allow companies like Canopy Growth to enter the US CBD market.