Senators In Oregon Encourage The FDA To Update Hemp-Derived CBD Oil Product Regulations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls much of what consumers are able to put in their bodies, which includes CBD. Considering that so many states are legalizing CBD and cannabis, the present regulations that govern it are in dire need of a review and an update. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both senators with the Democratic party, have chosen to send a letter to the FDA’s Commissioner – Scott Gottlieb – hoping to persuade him to update these regulations.

In the 2018 Farm Bill, which is a provision included with the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, made it possible to eliminate hemp from being categorized as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. It also made the process of cultivating, producing, and selling hemp legal. However, the FDA presently holds a different opinion on CBD.

Presently, an investigational new drug (IND) clause prohibits CBD from being used in food, beverages, and dietary supplements, since CBD is still being studied as a drug. For this situation specifically, GW Pharmaceuticals investigated CBD’s ability to act as a treatment for epilepsy, which was later approved and marketed as Epidiolex. Even though there is still this clause at the FDA, there are many CBD-infused products that have attracted the attention of the general public.

The senators wrote,

“Current, outdated regulations limit producers from taking full advantage of the industrial hemp market by, for example, prohibiting food products containing CBD from being sold across state lines. In recent years, the public has developed a widespread interest in the production and use of CBD, one of the primary non-psychoactive compounds in Cannabis sativa L. We therefore request the FDA immediately begin updating regulations for hemp-derived CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids, and give U.S. producers more flexibility in the production, consumption, and sale hemp products.”

CBD is the chemical compound that naturally occurs in the hemp plant for therapeutic and even medicinal properties. By including the phrasing “hemp-derived CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids,” the senators make it necessary for the FDA to understand that there are multiple actives in hemp products they need to consider. Perhaps this guidance and encouragement will help legislators adapt the FDA regulations in accordance with what the FDA allows.