Twelve members of Congress on Feb. 15 sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, calling for \u201cimmediate leadership\u201d on CBD in foods, drugs and cosmetics. However unrealistically, the letter requests a response from the FDA by this Friday \u2014 one week after the letter was sent.<\/p>\n
First\u00a0released to the public<\/a>\u00a0Feb. 20 and addressed to FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the letter notes the\u00a0current crackdown<\/a>\u00a0on CBD-infused food in New York City, Maine and Ohio. The lead signatory is Maine\u2019s Rep. Chellie Pingree, followed by Rep. Jared Golden, another Democrat from the Pine Tree state.<\/p>\n The letter states that the crackdowns have \u201cspurred a tremendous amount of confusion among product manufacturers, hemp farmers and consumers of these products.\u201d The lawmakers charge that the FDA\u2019s silence has resulted in the current \u201cpatchwork of state regulations\u201d that is hurting businesses.<\/p>\n On Dec. 20, President Donald Trump\u00a0signed the 2018 Farm Bill<\/a>, which included an amendment that removed hemp \u2014 as defined as the cannabis plant with less than 0.3 percent THC \u2014 from the Controlled Substances List.<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing the president\u2019s signing of the\u00a0Farm Bill<\/a>, you released a statement clarifying FDA\u2019s role in the regulation of hemp-derived CBD products,\u201d the letter to the FDA reads. \u201cIn this statement, you committed to holding a public meeting on this topic to gather information. Additionally, you mentioned that FDA-approved Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) designation for three hemp-derived ingredients: hulled hemp seeds, hemp seed protein and hemp seed oil.\u201d<\/p>\n In light of this, the letter calls on the FDA to \u201cswiftly provide guidance on lawful pathways for food products with CBD,\u201d suggesting that GRAS designation could be appropriate here as well. It queries whether the FDA has \u201cadvised\u201d those jurisdictions that have initiated the crackdowns. Finally,\u00a0the letter presses Gottlieb on the public hearing promised after the\u00a0signing of the Farm Bill<\/a>\u00a0in December to air the question.<\/p>\n Somewhat presumptuously, the letter calls for Gottlieb to respond \u201cby February 22, 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Hemp Industry Daily<\/a>,\u00a0in its report on the release of the letter, says that it reached out to the FDA, but a representative for the agency declined to comment, saying the agency would respond to Congress directly. The spokesperson did not say if the response would come by Feb. 22.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, authorities in New York have started to relax enforcement, at least tentatively. The city\u2019s department of health\u00a0has issued new guidelines, putting off its \u201cembargo\u201d of CBD-infused food and drink.<\/p>\n Crain\u2019s New York Business<\/a>\u00a0reports that businesses not in compliance will now have their CBD products embargoed beginning July 1. Said products will have to be returned to the supplier or discarded. Businesses still not in compliance by Oct. 1 may face fines of between $200 and $650, as well as \u201cviolation points\u201d that count toward the \u201cletter grade\u201d issued by the Health Department for city eateries.<\/p>\n The new guidance was issued following requests for clarity by many in the restaurant industry, including the\u00a0New York City Hospitality Alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis comes after multiple inquiries about its use went unanswered and DOH issued violations to businesses and embargoed products containing CBD,\u201d the Hospitality Alliance said in a statement after the guidance was issued. \u201cDOH will not embargo products or issue violations for CBD until later this year, which is the education-first, fine-last regulatory approach we\u2019ve requested.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement said the Health Department will rescind any violations already issued against city eateries.<\/p>\n Before the July and October deadlines, the FDA may provide legal clarity on the question. Otherwise, the issue could heat up again in New York. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson last week stated that he thinks the DOH overreacted, and\u00a0warned<\/a>: \u201cI want to hear what the Health Department wants to do to correct this given the science, and if they refuse to do so, the Council is willing to look at this issue legislatively.\u201d<\/p>\n At the moment, the FDA\u2019s\u00a0Marijuana Questions and Answers<\/a>\u00a0page only states that CBD as a food additive or dietary supplement is not legal.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, how do you think the FDA will choose to regulate CBD?<\/p>\n The post Congress Members Demand FDA Clarification on CBD<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Twelve members of Congress on Feb. 15 sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, calling for \u201cimmediate leadership\u201d on CBD in foods, drugs and cosmetics. However unrealistically, the letter requests a response from the FDA by this Friday \u2014 one week after the letter was sent. First\u00a0released toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6726,50,136,3995,6855,4154,1170,296,321,687,593,8046,81,420],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33112,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33111\/revisions\/33112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Reprieve in New York City<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Congress Members Demand FDA Clarification on CBD<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"