U.S. Hemp Industry News - HempToday®: Recent Episodes
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The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) announced it will begin enforcing strict regulations on the sale of intoxicating hemp products, following a recent federal court decision that limited the […]
Backed by producers of psychoactive hemp products, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has effectively secured a two-track market for intoxicating cannabis where only hemp-derived intoxicants and medical marijuana are legal, with […]
A groundbreaking project in Maine has received $1.6 million in funding to continue research into hemp’s potential in remediating soil contaminated by PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” The initiative, at […]
Hemp companies backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his bid to defeat pro-marijuana legislation are selling illegal high-potency “intoxicating hemp” products that are sometimes tainted, an investigation by the Miami […]
Purdue University has launched a consortium to bring together academic researchers, Indiana farmers and industry stakeholders in a field-to-shelf hemp product development initiative. The school’s new Hemp Products Utilization Consortium […]
The National Hemp Association (NHA) has been awarded $19.6 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA ) to lead a project aimed at protecting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through […]
A new study published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology highlights a significant increase in hemp-derived delta-8 THC exposures in the U.S., particularly in states where marijuana remains illegal. The […]
CBD did not prove effective in counterbalancing the effects of delta-9 THC on brain connectivity, and may heighten them, according to a recently published study. Contrary to earlier research suggesting […]
The U.S. Army has updated its drug policies to crack down on the use of delta-8 THC, a synthetic form of THC made from hemp-derived CBD. The new policies aim […]
[Also: Updates on developments in Utah and Tennessee] Hemp stakeholders in California and New Jersey suffered major setbacks in court decisions late last week that upheld regulations cracking down on […]
Hemp-derived CBD could prove to be an effective and environmentally friendly insecticide, according to a study by U.S. researchers. The study, published in the scientific journal Insects, showed that CBD can wipe out larvae in two troublesome strains of mosquitoes in their early stages of development – within 48 hours.
The research, led by a team at Ohio State University, marks a promising breakthrough in the ongoing fight against insecticide resistance, particularly in the case of mosquito species such as Aedes aegypti, which transmit deadly yellow fever, dengue, and Zika viruses.
“It’s very important to be able to control these pests at an early stage, when they are at their most vulnerable,” said Erick Martinez Rodriguez, a graduate student in entomology at Ohio State and lead author of the research report. He noted that targeting mosquitoes in their larval stage, before they mature and spread diseases over large distances, is critical for effective pest management.
Stubborn strainsThe breakthrough comes as mosquito populations around the world are developing genetic mutations to ward off conventional insecticides, posing serious challenges for global control programs. One strain of Aedes aegypti – the Puerto Rican strain – has shown stubborn resistance to commonly used synthetic insecticides, which target the nervous system of mosquitoes.
CBD, however, has shown the ability to bypass these metabolic defenses.
The Ohio State researchers extracted CBD by pulverizing dried hemp leaves and soaking them in methanol to create a potent solution. The study found that even a small amount of CBD-rich extract was lethal to mosquito larvae.
“What was surprising was the small amount needed to be so deadly,” Rodriguez said of the potential for the eco-friendly alternative to synthetic insecticides, which often have harmful environmental side effects due to overuse.
Natural insecticidesThis discovery is part of a growing body of research into plant-derived insecticides. Previous studies from Ohio State identified natural mosquito-repellent properties in plants from Madagascar, which inspired the team to explore hemp.
Study co-author Peter Piermarini, a professor of entomology at Ohio State, said CBD could be an attractive candidate for broader pest management strategies. “It’ll be interesting to learn more about how CBD interacts with various proteins in mammals and insects to understand why it’s safe for people but not insects,” he said.
However, Piermarini emphasized the need for more research into how CBD-based insecticides could affect non-target species, such as honeybees, which play a critical role in pollination and biodiversity.
More research neededWhile the findings are promising, they raise questions about the ecological impact of widespread CBD use in pest control. Mosquito larvae thrive in aquatic environments, and introducing CBD-based insecticides into these habitats requires a careful examination of how non-target aquatic species might be affected, the researchers noted. Protecting biodiversity while controlling pests is a delicate balance, and future research is needed to assess potential unintended consequences, they added.
Researchers also see potential in refining extraction methodologies for CBD-based insecticides, ensuring they are efficient and environmentally sustainable. This could involve optimizing the concentration of CBD to make it more effective at lower doses, further minimizing its ecological footprint.
Biopesticide revolution?The study opens several new avenues for research, including the efficacy of CBD against other insect species resistant to traditional insecticides. If CBD can be adapted to control a broader range of pests, it could revolutionize the biopesticide industry, offering a natural and eco-friendly alternative to synthetic chemicals.
Additionally, there is potential for genetic engineering approaches that could enhance the insecticidal properties of hemp, making it an even more powerful tool in pest control.
“Understanding how these natural compounds interact with different insect species will be crucial for developing safe, targeted pest control methods,” Rodriguez said, noting that the ultimate goal is to create solutions that reduce environmental harm while remaining effective against resistant pests.
The research was supported by the Infectious Diseases Institute and Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The journal Insects, which is peer-reviewed, is an open-access journal by the Basel, Switzerland-based Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.
A new hemp fiber processing facility opened by a Minnesota Native American community will need to source hemp crops from outside of tribal lands to make the factory operate efficiently, according to a project leader.
Minnesota’s Lower Sioux Indian Community opened the decortication facility with a ceremony last week. The tribe said it intends to grow and then process fiber hemp into building materials to meet a shortage of about 100 homes on the reservation.
Former tribal council member Earl Pendleton, who has explored options for developing sustainable homes for the Lower Sioux community, said housing needs propelled the idea, but the prospect of economic growth and outside partnerships also spurred the project.
The facility is located in Morton, Redwood County, Minn., adjacent to the Sioux reservation in the southern part of the state.
Hemp farmers neededTribal leaders on the housing project told Minnesota Public Radio that the facility can process up to 2,500 acres of hemp annually. The tribe has only 500 tillable acres on its land and can grow only about 100 acres of hemp a year, Danny Desjarlais, a tribal member and manager of the hemp construction project, told Lancaster Farming.
“We don’t have enough acreage here in the community to be able to fulfill the need to build these houses,” Desjarlais said.
“We’ll always be needing the local farmers in the area to produce the hemp,” according to Pendleton. He envisions a circular economy model in which the tribe farms hemp and uses the hurd to build affordable, energy-efficient homes made of hempcrete for the Lower Sioux community, but also sells products outside of the reservation.
Multi-million $ projectThe Star-Tribune reported the investment at $2.3 million in a 10,000-sq-ft facility.
A report earlier this year by ENR Midwest, a regional business-to-business news website that covers the construction and engineering industries, estimated the project was to invest $6.2 million for a 20,000 sq ft facility. Desjarlais said the tribe has planned Phase 2 of the project to add another 10,000 feet to the factory.
The factory is financed by money the community raised from its existing hemp program, sustainability grants, and loans, including a $1.5 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Desjarlais told the Star-Tribune the facility is probably “ahead of the market,” and likely will be unprofitable for the foreseeable future, suggesting the tribe will continue to depend on government grants until demand emerges.
First house is builtThe tribe recently completed its first hempcrete house using materials from outside the reservation. The first two occupants have already moved into the duplex, believed to be the first of its kind in Minnesota. More dwellings are planned for construction in the next spring and summer months, Desjarlais said.
The Minnesota Lower Sioux Indian Community, also known as the Mdewakanton Sioux, is a federally recognized tribe whose lands are located near the Minnesota River. The 1,473-acre reservation is home to more than 1,100 residents. Farms on the reservation grow traditional crops such as corn, beans, and squash.
The tribe’s primary source of revenue now is Jackpot Junction Casino, a major employer that funds essential tribal services like healthcare, education, and social programs.
A North Carolina “wellness” company has been hit with a warning from the U.S. Food & Drug Adminstration (FDA), which says it promoted a wide range of hemp cannabinoids under unproven health claims.
Root Bioscience Brands, LLC, which does business under the Naternal brand, was ordered to remove from its website extensive unsubstantiated health claims regarding five products aimed at humans and one for pets. The company complied and took down the questionable information.
The health claims suggested that Naternal brand products containing CBD, CBG and CBN help with a wide range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s Disease, concussions, cancer, high blood pressure, addiction to cocaine and opioids, PTSD, autism, ADHD, stress, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, inflammation, glaucoma, inflammatory bowel disease, skin infections, weak appetite, and Huntington’s Disease.
FD&C Act violationsFDA said the products “are unapproved new drugs introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce in violation of . . . the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”
Addressing the company’s claims regarding opioid treatment with cannabinoids, the FDA said: “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has determined that a public health emergency exists nationwide involving the opioid crisis. You market your CBD products for the treatment or cure of opioid addiction. However, these products have not been determined by FDA to be safe and effective for these (or any other) uses.
“Further, the unproven treatments could cause patients to forego or delay FDA-approved treatments for opioid addiction or withdrawal. The marketing and sale of unapproved opioid addiction treatment products is a potentially significant threat to the public health. Therefore, FDA is taking measures to protect consumers from products that, without approval by FDA, claim to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, treat or cure opioid addiction,” according to the warning letter.
Unproven for petsThe company’s website was also warned over a wide range of health claims for its CBD products for pets, which suggested they can be treatment for seizures, arthritis, diabetes, chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia, skin ailments, Lyme Disease, nausea, osteoarthritis and epilepsy.
CBD has not been proven effective for any of those conditions, and is not approved to administer to pets, according to the letter.
The warning letter was addressed to Garrett Perdue, CEO at Morrisville, North Carolina-based Root Bioscience Brands. It was issued jointly by FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Hemp stakeholders in Tennessee have gone to court to protect their interests in intoxicating hemp substances – following the lead of similar groups in other U.S. states.
The lawsuit, led by hemp producers in the Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC), alleges the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) skirted its own protocols and state law when it instituted emergency rules meant to tamp down on hemp-derived intoxicants such as delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10 THC found in edibles that have been widely available under no restrictions in Tennessee.
By redefining hemp cannabinoids, the state “placed extensive restrictions on their manufacture and sale,” according to the lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court.
The case in Tennessee is just the latest among many across the country as stakeholders clash with state regulators, police and drug agencies, which are working to get trade in the hemp-derived intoxicants under control.
Some states have banned the products altogether. Tennessee has instead allowed them but under strict regulations. State officials estimate that the sales of products containing intoxicating hemp substances represent as much as $180 million in economic value for Tennessee.
Licenses requiredIn addition to the emergency rules, the state established a licensing program for businesses working with hemp-derived cannabinoids, given the acronym “HDC.”
“HDC product” is defined as a product that contains or that is labeled to contain a hemp-derived cannabinoid and that is produced, marketed, or otherwise intended to be consumed orally, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. HDC products also include intermediate products intended for subsequent use as a component in a later finished product.
According to the new regulations, an HDC product license is required per person per location for any person who manufactures, distributes or sells an HDC product at retail.
Other wording changes were also made. Previously in Tennessee law, “manufacture” meant to compound, blend, extract, infuse, cook, or otherwise make or prepare products containing a hemp-derived cannabinoid, including the processes of extraction, infusion, packaging, repackaging, labeling, and relabeling of products containing a hemp-derived cannabinoid.”
Under the new regulations, “manufacture” also includes any action that transforms cannabis physically or chemically beyond its principal form as a farm product or that filters, cleans, or trims that product to isolate any of its particular parts or components.
Topicals exemptedTopical products, defined as products solely intended to be applied to the skin or hair and are not intended to be absorbed through transdermal application, are not under the emergency rules and are not included within the definition of an HDC product even if they contain a hemp-derived cannabinoid.
The rules also prohibit the sale of HDC products to individuals under 21 and limit the amount of intoxicating substances allowed per serving in products such as edibles.
Additionally, labeling and testing requirements have become more stringent, with mandates for detailed ingredient lists, QR codes linking to test results, and warnings on packaging.
The rules also redefine what qualifies as THC by including hemp-derived THC-A, a precursor that converts to THC when heated. This change could lead to a ban on THC-A and certain CBD flower products, as they are often indistinguishable from marijuana except when tested in a lab.
Growers’ argumentThe Tennessee Growers Coalition complaint leans on the argument that existing rules in Tennessee comply with the 2018 Farm Bill passed by the U.S. Congress. That bill redefined industrial hemp and hemp-derived products, removing them from the Schedule I Controlled Substances Act and making hemp an “ordinary (and legal) agricultural commodity,” the suit states.
But intoxicating, psychoactive, or “high”-producing products made from industrial hemp were not understood or envisioned by Congress when it passed the 2018 Farm Bill. That lack of vision left a loophole that unscrupulous CBD and intoxicating hemp operators have taken advantage of, and along the way re-associated non-drug cannabis (hemp) with psychoactive cannabis (marijuana).
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture first issued the emergency rules in December 2023. The lawsuit argues that the Department violated its own protocols because while it held a public hearing, it failed to propose draft regulations and instituted the emergency rules three days before they went into effect on July 1, 2024.
Joining the TGC as plaintiffs in the suit are Saylor Enterprises LLC (d/b/a CBD Plus USA) and Gold Spectrum CBD LLC.
Today’s production-driven U.S. hemp textile sector needs to be turned on its head, with the focus shifted to developing consumer demand for high-quality products, according to a new report from consultants Canna Markets Group (CMG).
And those products won’t come from cottonized hemp, the focus of most U.S. processors, the report suggests.
As the latter-day hemp industry has developed since passage of the 2018 Farm Bill – an epoch referred to as “Hemp V2.0” in CMG’s terminology – the focus has wrongly been on farming and production, to the near exclusion of product development and marketing, according to the report, authored by CMG Lead Strategist & Project Manager Joseph Carringer, a 25-year veteran in hemp and other textiles, and fashion.
“With this model, it appears that hemp is being cultivated and processed first, with attempts to find products for its use second. Product lines that cultivate consumer demand are necessary to achieve economies of scale,” Carringer writes in the report’s introduction. “Unfortunately, Hemp Industry V2.0 has done little to create these consumer-facing product lines.”
Premature supersizingBy prematurely supersizing their production, U.S.-based fiber hemp processors are scrambling to stabilize their operations by offshoring fiber into the international apparel manufacturing supply chains of China and India. That bolsters the economies of those nations while not addressing the lack of end-to-end domestic supply chains, Carringer argues.
“Why are we growing hemp in the US to offshore to other countries to finish into apparel?”Get the report
It also represents a national security threat by playing specifically into China’s strategy for competing in the global marketplace.
“If Hemp Industry V2.0 continues to pursue an offshoring model for its fiber sales instead of supporting and developing manufacturing supply chains domestically, it will continue to play into China’s long-term plan of economic dominance over the West by creating dependencies on its goods,” according to the report, “A Wearable Solution: Product Development for Industrial Hemp Textiles.”
Chasing cottonEarly processors’ fascination with cottonized hemp is also misplaced, according to Carringer, who suggests it is unrealistic to push hemp through existing supply chains for cotton, primarily for economic reasons.
Products that come from cottonized hemp – seen by many fiber processors as a “silver bullet” – ultimately cannot compete with those based on longer fiber, and wet and semi-wet spinning, which produce the most durable and high-quality hemp yarn and fabrics. By eschewing production of long fibers and high-end hemp fabrics, the U.S. hemp textile industry will also yield critical markets to other nations, Carringer warns.
“For industrial hemp to continue to develop as a commodity in the United States, there needs to be equal investment made into historically stable product line supply chains as there has been in agronomy, processing, and theoretical developmental markets, such as building materials and food,” the paper concludes.
Regulators and law enforcement agencies in New York and Texas have stepped up enforcement actions against sellers of intoxicating hemp products with raids this month.
In New York, hundreds of hemp shops have been raided or closed since a statewide crackdown was launched in March after lawmakers in Albany gave new powers to police agencies and the state’s Office of Cannabis Management.
Licensed marijuana retailers in New York have backed the enforcement actions, suggesting the widespread availability of gray-market intoxicating hemp products is jeopardizing the state’s nascent legal pot market, estimated at $500 million to $1 billion.
New York State legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, and the first licensed dispensaries began opening in late 2022, but a number of challenges have made the implementation of the state’s program more complicated than initially anticipated – most notably the emergence of the hemp-derived substances made possible by a loophole in federal law.
Challenge nationwideStates throughout the U.S. are working to get their arms around a runaway market for intoxicating hemp products – often called “diet weed,” “marijuana light,” or “gas station pot,” – after the 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp federally but failed to anticipate the market for intoxicating downstream products that has developed in the intervening years.
Most of the substances are produced synthetically by putting hemp-derived CBD through a process in the lab. In addition to delta-8 THC – the most popular of the compounds – producers are also making synthetic delta-10 THC, THC-O-acetate, HHC, THCP and others.
In addition to being widely available in licensed CBD outlets and hemp shops, the products can also be found in convenience stores, bodegas, and other common retail outlets. Online ads also push the products, which are usually in the form of gummies and other edibles.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other officials say the raids have helped increase sales through regulated marijuana operators.
Retailers push backThree licensed hemp retailers – Smoke N Save in Saratoga Springs, Two Strains in Queensbury, and Breckenridge in Manhattan – earlier this week filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court against the OCM and the New York City Sheriff’s Office, claiming the police actions are taking place without lab tests or confirmation of what’s actually in the products.
The crackdown on New York’s illicit cannabis trade also has had an “immediate and catastrophic effect” on the market for CBD, which has “essentially halted,” a group of hemp companies charged in a separate lawsuit filed in March against the OCM and the New York Cannabis Control Board.
9 shops hit in TexasIn Texas, the Police Department in the city of Allen (APD) joined agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in a more concentrated action against nine local vape and CBD shops that were accused of selling products containing intoxicating hemp substances.
Texas has more than 7,700 operators licensed to sell hemp products at retail, according to the Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
The Texas raids were foreshadowed by warning letters sent to the shop owners three months ago by the APD, which identified several “hemp” products as over the legal limit for THC. The police told the The Dallas Morning News that products sold by local businesses had tested from 7% to 78% THC.
Products remain ‘legal’Hemp stakeholders have have had some success in pushing back against restrictions on the products.
In 2021 a bill that would have outlawed the products died in the legislature, and last year operators won a court case that set aside a ban on the products by the DSHS, which had designated the THC compounds inside them as Schedule 1 controlled substances.
The Senate State Affairs Committee held an interim hearing in late July during which lawmakers called for a review of the hemp intoxicants when the Legislature convenes next year.
Medical marijuana is legal in Texas but recreational pot faces an uphill battle as lawmakers have repeatedly spurned legalization efforts.
The world’s only widely approved medical CBD formula performed weakly in a key clinical trial in Japan, the maker of the drug reported.
Epidiolex, an oral solution for treating rare forms of epilepsy in children, “did not achieve its primary goal of a significant reduction in seizure frequency” in a Phase 3 trial, according to Jazz Pharmaceuticals, the parent company of GW Pharmaceuticals, which makes the drug.
Phase 3 trials are critical in the four-phase drug development process because they provide the most comprehensive data on how well a drug works, and its safety profile, which is used by regulatory bodies such as the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK’s Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to decide whether to approve the drug for public use.
‘No new safety issues’Despite the weak performance in reducing seizures, Jazz said the trials uncovered no new safety issues, and recorded “improvements” in unspecified “other areas.”
Rob Iannone, the company’s executive vice president, global head of research and development, said Jazz remains confident in the overall clinical profile of Epidiolex, which he said has been established in more than 900 patients in five other Phase 3 clinical trials. He said the company will continue to work with Japanese regulatory authorities regarding a “potential” new drug application.
“We recognize the significant unmet need for patients in Japan living with rare epilepsies,” Iannone said.
The trial in Japan, which is ongoing, is focused on measuring how much seizure frequency changes over a treatment period of up to 16 weeks in 62 children aged 1 to 18 years old.
Japanese officials approved Epidiolex for hospital-based clinical trials in 2019, exempting the drug from the country’s Cannabis Control Act, which bans cannabis compounds generally.
Approval historyEpidiolex, a high CBD, no THC formula, first won general approval in 2018 from the FDA, which later approved the drug in 2020 as a treatment specifically for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. It was approved by the EMA in Europe and the MHRA in the UK in 2019. (The drug goes by the alternative spelling “Epidyolex” in Europe and the UK.) Canada’s federal health regulator, Health Canada, approved the medicine late last year.
GW Pharmaceuticals is considered to be the biggest medical cannabinoid company in the world, having developed its products under strict regulations for medicine in the markets where it is present. It was acquired by Ireland-based Jazz in 2021.
Sales of Epidiolex reached $845.5 million in 2023, an increase of 15% from the previous year. Jazz Pharmaceuticals, whose shares are traded on the NASDAQ Global Market, had total revenues of $3.8 billion in 2023.
An American research team that claims to have carried out the first clinical trial of Cannabigerol (CBG), said the hemp-derived cannabinoid appears to reduce emotional discomfort, and may have some memory-enhancing effects.
The researchers, from Washington State University (WSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), looked at the acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress and mood. A study reflecting the trial results was published recently inScientific Reports, an open-access, online journal from Nature Portfolio, a scientific publishing group.
“CBG is becoming increasingly popular, with more producers making bold, unsubstantiated claims about its effects,” according to Carrie Cuttler, an associate professor of psychology at WSU who led the study.
No miraclesWhile the WSU-UCLA study supports some of those claims, Cuttler urged caution. “We need to avoid claims that CBG is a miracle drug. It’s new and exciting, but replication and further research are crucial,” she said.
The study used Zoom sessions to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 34 cannabis users who first reported baseline ratings of anxiety, stress and mood. The subjects then took either 20 milligrams of CBG or a tincture containing a placebo, which were mailed out previously by the researchers. Asked to rate their their feelings, the subjects said the hemp compound significantly reduced their anxiety 20, 45 and 60 minutes after ingestion.
Better recallCuttler said one of the most surprising outcomes of the study was CBG’s apparent effect on memory. Contrary to THC’s negative effects on memory, CBG enhanced recall of words from a list exposed to the subjects before they were administered the 20 mg dose. Those in the sample group were able to recall more words than those in the control group.
“We triple-checked to ensure accuracy, and the enhancement was statistically significant,” Cuttler said.
At the same time, the study found that CBG did not produce cognitive or motor impairments or other adverse effects commonly associated with THC. Participants in the experimental group reported low intoxication ratings and minimal changes in symptoms such as dry mouth, sleepiness, heart palpitations and heightened appetite – effects normally associated with THC.
Cuttler said the findings align with survey data from a previous study she led that indicated 51% of CBG users consume the substance to decrease anxiety, with 78% suggesting it is better than conventional anxiety medications.
About CBGWhile cannabis stakeholders have long been focused on developing THC and CBD, researchers and hemp breeders are now teaming up to better understand CBG, and developing CBG-rich cultivars. First discovered in the 1960’s, CBG, which is non-psychoactive, is not under international drug schedules, and is not considered a controlled substance in the USA.
CBG is known as the “mother” or “OG” cannabinoid, due to the fact that it is the precursor to all other cannabinoids, such as CBD (Cannabidiol), CBN (Cannabinol), CBC (Cannabichromene), and THCA (Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid). It has also been called “the Rolls-Royce of cannabinoids” because it is costly to produce. The relatively low amount of CBG found in conventional cannabis plants means it takes thousands of pounds of biomass to isolate even small amounts of the compound, meaning high prices to the end user.
Other benefits?Previous non-clinical studies have suggested CBG may be therapeutic for glaucoma, inflammatory bowel disease and Huntington’s disease, and may inhibit tumor growth in some cases; it may also kill or slow bacteria and advance bone development.
Also, instead of inducing THC-like effects, CBG reportedly buffers the feelings of paranoia sometimes caused by over-ingesting THC.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year approved a genetically modified variety of hemp designed to produce high levels of CBG while eliminating all THC and CBD. The new hemp variety, called “Badger G,” was developed by the University of Wisconsin’s Crop Innovation Center.
The European Commission last year added CBG to the EU’s cosmetic ingredient database (Cosing), clearing the compound as safe for use in health and beauty products.
Cuttler said her team is designing a subsequent clinical trial to replicate its findings, and to add physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels. The researchers also plan to extend the study to non-cannabis users. Cuttler said she is also planning a study of CBG’s effects on menopause symptoms in women.
A California bill intended to crack down on products containing hemp-derived intoxicating substances likely will not get consideration this legislative session, leaving the window open for sales of the controversial products until next year – and leaving consumers at risk, state officials say.
Despite the legislative delay, the state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) says it will continue efforts to rein in the products.
“The administration continues to work with the legislature to close loopholes and increase enforcement to address the sale and distribution of illegal hemp products,” David Hafner, the regulator’s media relations manager, said in a statement. “Mislabeled and misleading products do not belong in the marketplace – especially when they put our kids’ health and safety at risk.”
Under the proposed legislation, such products could be sold only in licensed cannabis shops. The measure seeks to shut down an out-of-control gray market, with shelf space in gas stations, bars, bodegas, coffee shops, strip malls and even mobile trailers – often in packages that appeal to youth.
California state government regulators have the power to remove a product from the market if they deem it to be unsafe. Although the the DCC has yet to give any signals it will go to that extreme, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told MJBizDaily it was “deeply disappointed” by the stalling of the bill.
‘Kids at risk’Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said “Misleading and intoxicating hemp products harm consumers and put our kids’ health and safety at risk. They should be subject to reasonable health and safety regulations, just like similar cannabis products.
“The administration is actively exploring further action to close loopholes, increase enforcement, and prevent children from accessing unsafe hemp and cannabis products,” Gardon said.
The proposed law also targets smokable hemp flowers, which are often sprayed or mixed with additives that boost the THC levels.
The Senate Appropriations Committee took public comment on the measure, Assembly Bill 2223 (AB 2223), last week, but a vote has not been scheduled before the end of the current legislative session on Aug. 31. California’s next legislative session begins in January 2025.
CBD restrictionsIntroduced by Democrat Assembly member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the California bill passed the State Assembly last month with bipartisan support.
Newsom, who has urged a crackdown, added a 44-page amendment that also calls for strict regulation of CBD. Under one provision, so called “pure CBD” products – mainly CBD-containing hemp oil – could be sold outside of the state’s regulated marijuana system. But those products may not contain any detectible amount of THC or any other intoxicating cannabinoids, a more restrictive policy than the federal limit of 0.3 percent THC. Sales of hemp products with detectable THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids would be restricted to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries.
Critics have warned that provision could put high-concentration CBD products out of the reach of patients who have found the compound effective in the treatment of various forms of seizures. More importantly, CBD sales in California, estimated at somewhere between one-half and one billion dollars, could be devastating for hemp stakeholders in the state’.
Oxy-moronsVariously referred to as “gas station pot,” “diet weed,” “marijuana light” and other slang terms, “high”-producing compounds made from industrial hemp were not understood or envisioned by the U.S. Congress when it passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. That lack of vision left a loophole that unscrupulous operators have taken advantage of, and along the way re-associated non-drug cannabis (hemp) with psychoactive cannabis (marijuana).
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has explicitly warned that the intoxicating hemp substances have not been evaluated or approved for safe use and are illegal. While the FDA hasn’t addressed all psychoactive substances derived from CBD extensively, the agency’s overall position on the regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products suggests these substances require FDA approval before being marketed as safe and effective.
In the absence of federal restrictions, states across the USA are working to reign in the illicit hemp products, with some banning them altogether and others imposing strict rules. Officials in some states have come out strongly against the intoxicating hemp products because they are being marketed in packaging that mimics leading brands of treats that are popular among children.
Bans stand in 2 statesAmong recent developments in other states:
WYOMING: A federal judge last week rejected a lawsuit brought by nearly a dozen hemp product retailers challenging a ban on intoxicating hemp substances that took effect in July. The judge ruled that the retailers had not stated a claim for which relief could be granted, and gave the state defendants immunity. The lawsuit was filed at the end of June in U.S. District Court against Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Attorney General Bridget Hill, Director of Agriculture Doug Miyamoto and all of Wyoming’s elected prosecutors. The hemp operators had sued the state over Wyoming Senate File 0032 (SF0032). The latest legal development is a final word on the lawsuit, after a previous federal court decision also rejected the hemp operators’ challenge to the new law. SF0032 prohibits the addition of synthetic substances or other additives to hemp and hemp products, and classifies hemp-derived intoxicating compounds as Schedule I controlled substances.
MISSOURI: A ban on the sale of drinks, candy and other foods that contain hemp-derived intoxicating substances takes effect Sept. 1, 2024, under an executive order issued earlier this month by Gov. Mike Parson. The governor said the state’s goal is to safeguard the health and safety of Missourians, especially children. Parson cited health concerns and lack of research on delta-8 THC and similar psychoactive substances, most of which are synthetic forms of cannabinoids. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said there have been reports of adults and children being hospitalized after consuming products containing the substances, and criticized branding and packaging that appeals to youth. Parson said consumption of psychoactive hemp products is not covered by the ban and confirmed that adult-use recreational marijuana remains legal in Missouri through authorized dispensaries.
Anti-drug, education, police and health groups have asked Congress to ban intoxicating hemp substances, as the battle against the illicit compounds is reaching a fever pitch.
The organizations, 51 in total, said they support the the Miller Amendment, a legislative update to the 2018 Farm Bill that redefines hemp to distinguish between plants grown for flowers from which the psychoactive hemp substances are derived, and the more traditional “industrial hemp,” which includes crops farmed for food in the form of grain, and those grown for the plant’s valuable fibers.
The next Farm Bill, originally the 2023 Farm Bill, is expected in early 2025 following repeated delays.
What’s in ‘Miller’The amendment, named after Illinois Rep. Mary Miller, who introduced it, allows only naturally occurring or naturally derived nonintoxicating compounds and redefines the 0.3% THC limit for hemp to a combination of delta-9 THC and THCA. It would eliminate all lab-produced, synthetic forms of intoxicating cannabinoids, most of which are made from CBD base material extracted from hemp flowers.
The groups said they also support a U.S. Congressional spending bill that includes similar language. The enactment of either measure would result in a national shutdown in the distribution of products containing the unregulated hemp substances.
“The definition of hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill has been interpreted by the hemp industry as ‘legalizing’ semi-synthetic cannabinoids (e.g., delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, HHC, THC-O, etc.) that have similar effects as delta-9 THC,” the letter observes. “These products are continually innovated to circumvent existing regulations, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive ban to effectively curtail their availability,” the letter observes.
The surge in intoxicating hemp products has been meteoric, with the substances becoming increasingly available in products carried online, and in hemp shops, gas stations, bars, bodegas’ coffee shops, strip malls and even mobile trailers. These outlets do not have licenses that allow them to sell intoxicating cannabis products. The illicit products, which go by slang names such as “diet weed,” “marijuana light,” or “gas station pot,” are sold in the form of gummies, candies, drinks, tinctures, “topicals” (often taken internally) and inhalable vapes and smokeable products.
‘No’ to regulationLed by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), which drafted the letter, the organizations say the products should be banned completely and not simply regulated. “Trying to regulate semi-synthetic cannabinoids will not work,” the groups said.
“Consistent with concerns regarding youth access and appeal, national data from 2023 shows that one-in-nine 12th graders (11.4%) reported using delta-8 THC in the past year. This is likely an underestimation of their use, considering the dozens of other semi-synthetic cannabinoids in addition to delta-8 THC being sold across the United States,” the letter states.
Health & safetyThe products and their manufacturers have drawn widespread condemnation from local, state and federal regulators and lawmakers, especially since many of the products are in packaging attractive to kids.
“To protect the health and safety of our communities, we need to completely close the federal loophole by explicitly excluding these products from the definition of hemp,” according to the letter.
The possibility of making such compounds from industrial hemp was not understood or envisioned by lawmakers when they passed the 2018 Farm Bill, leaving a loophole that unscrupulous operators have taken advantage of and, along the way, re-associated non-drug cannabis (hemp) with psychoactive cannabis (marijuana).
The groups who signed the letter to Congress underscored that there have been thousands of calls to U.S. poison control centers from use of the products, with more than 30% of those calls regarding children five years and younger.
‘Acute’ risksResearch on the compounds has shown association with “acute psychiatric disorders including severe psychosis, and lung, chest, and heart disorders, as well as injuries and poisonings,” the groups wrote.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has explicitly stated that intoxicating hemp substances have not been evaluated or approved for safe use and are illegal, and would require FDA approval before being marketed as safe and effective.
Ahead of federal lawmakers addressing the issue, states across the USA are working to reign in the intoxicating hemp products, with some banning them altogether and others imposing strict rules. Court challenges to laws in some states have mostly upheld bans or strict regulations.
SignatoriesOrganizations that signed the letter include:
- American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP)
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- American Psychological Association Services, Inc.
- Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana
- Becca Schmill Foundation
- CADCA
- California Consortium of Addiction Programs & Professionals
- Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition, LLC
- Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators (CIVEL)
- Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice (CIVSJ)
- Charting Careers, Inc.
- College on Problems of Drug Dependence
- Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
- D.A.R.E. America
- DEA Educational Foundation
- Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents (DEAFNA)
- Drug Free America Foundation, Inc.
- Every Brain Matters
- Foundation for a Healthy Generation
- Georgians for a Responsible Marijuana Policy
- Institute for Behavioral Health, Inc.
- International Academy on the Science & Impact of Cannabis
- Lost Voices of Fentanyl
- Maryland Prevention Works Coalition
- MATFORCE
- Minnesota Prevention Alliance
- Monument Prevention Coalition
- Mothers Against Prescription Drug Abuse (MAPDA)
- National Association for Children of Addiction (NACoA)
- National Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies (NASDEA)
- National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers
- National HIDTA Director’s Association (NHDA)
- National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition (NNOAC)
- National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives
- New Jerseyans Against Legalizing Marijuana
- No2Pot
- North Carolinians Against Legalizing Marijuana
- One Chance to Grow Up
- Partnership to End Addiction
- Pennsylvania Against Legalizing
- Marijuana Prevention Alliance of Tennessee
- Public Health Institute (PHI)
- Save Our Society from Drugs
- Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)
- Student Assistance Services Corporation
- Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
- Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona (SACLAz)
- Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth
- Treatment Communities of America
- Washington State Public Health Association
- WestCare Foundation
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