QUESTIONS FOR CONGRESS
FDA’s inaction on CBD regulations means more cannabis questions for Congress
The FDA’s announcement that it won’t regulate products containing CBD and will instead pass that buck to Congress means the preservation of the current, uneasy status quo for now, writes MJ Biz Daily.
The publication notes that trade associations representing the industry have stated they are disappointed by the announcement, hoping instead the agency would have provided clear rules.
Michael Bronstein, the president of the Washington DC-based American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, told MJ Biz Daily: “We will diligently work with Congress to develop and advance a pathway that protects consumers, creates certainty in the marketplace for CBD goods, and provides for sound regulation.”
CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
Cannabis legalization efforts gain traction: This week in cannabis investing
Kiplinger reports that the Southeast is warming to the legalization of cannabis, and approval surrounding medical and recreational weed is gaining momentum.
It highlights that Alabama’s licensing process is underway, efforts for legalization in Florida are building and South Carolina is making progress on its medical cannabis legalization program through the introduction of the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act.
The publication also explores the opening of New York’s second legal dispensary, how legal cannabis lowers demand for codeine, the shut down of Curaleaf operations and how the cannabis M&A market could struggle this year.
THC ALTERNATIVE
New ‘semi-synthetic’ THC alternative HHC could encourage regulatory crack down on hemp flower
BusinessCann reports that HHC, said to produce similar effects to THC, has swept through Europe in recent months, and HHC products, including gummies, vapes and even raw flower, are openly sold and readily available online and in high-street stores.
The publication highlights that little is known about HHC or the current size of the market, but the EMCDDA believe its rapid rise to prevalence ‘may mark the first major new change in the market for “legal” replacements to cannabis since Spice emerged in Europe just over 15 years ago’.
The EMCDDA points out: “Unlike synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists found in Spice-type products, HHC can be made from cannabidiol extracted from low-THC cannabis (hemp). It is just giving reasons for worldwide or European regulators to say that the cultivation of cannabis sativa for fibre should now allow the use of flowers.
“There has been a lot of effort recently to allow hemp flower to be used for CBD because people say hemp or CBD is not narcotic – there’s no reason to control it. But the argument, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the regulators, is that it’s so easy to convert CBD to something which could be psychoactive.”
