For nearly a century, hemp has been at the mercy of prohibitionist policies that outlawed the cultivation and sale of industrial hemp in America. But after the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and allowed states that were interested to create hemp programs, a robust industry quickly grew around the plant. By the end of 2020, the U.S. hemp industry had generated nearly $10 billion in sales, partly due to the rising popularity of cannabidiol (“CBD”), a hemp extract said to have potent medical properties. However, the industry is barely regulated by the federal government. Each state has its own rules, leading to a patchwork of hemp regulations across the country, and the relevant authorities still haven’t created a comprehensive regulatory structure for hemp. Stakeholders and lawmakers have urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to craft hemp regulations, but the federal agency has been dragging its feet. In the wake of the FDA’s rejection of a proposal to allow the sale of full-spectrum CBD as a dietary supplement, industry leaders say hemp would benefit a great deal from regulation. Priyanka Sharma, cofounder of Kazmira, a Denver-based, industrial-scale producer of CBD isolate, says that regulation would raise the bar for high-quality production and manufacturing processes and ensure customers get products with safe ingredients.
CannabisNewsWire, 09/23/2021 04:20:00