420 with CNW – Congressional Bill Seeks to Allow
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Two congressmen have introduced a bill that would allow CBD and other hemp extracts to be marketed and sold as dietary supplements. Sponsored by Reps. Kurt Schrader and Morgan Griffith, the bipartisan legislation would make it clear that Congress intends on making federally regulated CBD and other hemp products available to American consumers. Although industrial hemp and its extracts were legalized in December 2018, the nascent industry lacks a national regulatory framework. The new bill seeks to clear the legal confusion around CBD and allow licensed retailers to sell CBD products.
“Hemp was historically an important crop for Virginia farmers, and dietary supplements made from it do not possess dangerous addictive qualities. Nevertheless, the current state of regulation creates confusion about its legal uses,” said Rep. Griffith in a press release. “I joined this bipartisan bill to provide certainty for hemp farmers that their crop may find legal uses.”
Titled the “Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020,” the bill would mandate that “cannabis derived from hemp shall be lawful under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement. Under the bill, hemp-derived CBD would still have to comply with federal requirements on packaging and labeling as well as FDA rules regarding new dietary ingredients. According to industry advocates who pushed for a clear federal path for hemp-derived CBD, the measure would boost consumer confidence in CBD products and help businesses that poured money into hemp production when it was legalized.
The U.S. Hemp Roundtable said in a press release that thousands of farmers and small businesses invested in what was widely seen as a CBD boom. “However, public announcements by the FDA questioning the legality of ingestible hemp-derived products have hindered the progress of the industry and put at risk the livelihoods of many hemp farmers. Not only did the lack of clarity spell economic disaster, but it also resulted in a lack of regulations around quality, leaving consumers unprotected.”
The legislation is part of an ongoing effort by the federal government to regulate the nascent hemp and hemp extract industry which has been termed by some as the ‘wild west’. Last year, a bipartisan group of 26 House members sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) urging the agency to provide a path for CBD products to be legally marketed and sold. The lawmakers said that the FDA’s “current significant regulatory posture on CBD has created significant regulatory and legal uncertainty for participants in this quickly evolving industry.”
If this bill became law, analysts are convinced that the entire cannabis sector, including Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD), would regard it as one of the best pieces of legislation that has been passed in recent years.
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