National agriculture regulators are meeting in Kentucky this week to hash out the issues that matter most to the country’s farmers and ag manufacturers. Included in that list: hemp. On Wednesday, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) voted to expand funding opportunities for the hemp industry. Specifically, members voted to “advocate for USDA to allow hemp to be designed as both a specialty crop and an agronomic commodity depending [on] its intended use,” NASDA announced. And, the Plant Agriculture & Pesticide Regulation Committee heard from Kay Doyle, director of U.S. Public Policy and Public Affairs for Greenwich Biosciences, who until last year served on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. NASDA is hosting its annual meeting this week. Greenwich Biosciences, now part of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, is the United States arm of GW Pharmaceuticals, the company behind Epidiolex, also known as the nation’s first cannabis plant-based medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Epidiolex, which is cannabidiol-based, has been approved to treat rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and Dravet syndrome, as well as tuberous sclerosis complex in patients one year or older.
Alyson Martin, Cannabis Wire, 09/22/2021 20:00:00