The misunderstood hemp plant has officially taken its rightful place as a legitimate and fully legal agricultural crop. Finally reason, and not emotions, has guided the US policy regarding hemp. The signing of the 2018 Farm Bill by the President today removed hemp and hemp derivatives, such as CBD, from the Controlled Substance Act. This removes both CBD and THC (at levels 0.3% or less) from The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule V list. Will there still be some grey areas to iron out? Yes. But this change is exciting for the farmers, processors and sellers of hemp CBD.
In an article, CBD Poised for Boom After Farm Bill in Rolling Stone, “Currently surging in popularity due to its therapeutic properties, CBD has existed in a confusing legal gray, governed by a mishmash of laws that vary from state to state. Despite this questionable legality, it’s turning up in cocktails and wellness products, it topped $350 million in consumer sales in 2017—and it’s expected to grow once the bill goes into law.”
USA Today reported, “The $867 billion Farm Bill clarifies that hemp will be treated as an agricultural product, allowing growers to qualify for crop insurance and research grants. It also sets the stage for broader availability of hemp-based foods and supplements by removing the plant from the Controlled Substances Act.”
General Counsel, Jonathan Miller of of U.S. Hemp Roundtable wrote an analysis of what the 2018 Farm Bill will do. Take a moment to read, What Does the Farm Bill Do? The big headline is, “The era of hemp prohibition is over. Hemp is now permanently removed from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). It is forever deemed an agricultural commodity, no longer mistaken as a controlled substance, like marijuana.”
Permanently! We are doing a little happy dance over here at Ology Essentials. We are excited to continue to support our customers with the amazing opportunities and benefits of hemp CBD. We are here to support you with direct to consumer products, our affiliate program, wholesale, white label and private label of internal and topical hemp CBD.
Even before the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill there were changes in the air. After the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2—115th Congress: Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 by a vote of 369 to 47 the Attorney General of Alabama, Steve Marshall, stated, “As a result of this Congressional action, CBD derived from industrial hemp, with a THC concentration of not more than 0.3% can be legally produced, sold , and possessed within the state of Alabama.”
And already banks are taking hemp CBD off the high risk list and we expect for insurance companies to do the same. Stay tuned! We will pass on important information as the changes unfold.
