Texas OKs hemp farming, Louisiana imposes restrictions on CBD products

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed into law a bill that allows farmers in the state to grow hemp commercially.

House Bill 1325 also authorized the retail sale of hemp-derived products, including cannabidiol (CBD), that contain no more than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive compound found in large quantities in marijuana.

Texas is the 45th state to approve hemp farming and will work on regulations for the 2020 growing season, reported Vote Hemp, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

On June 6, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a bill providing for the regulation of industrial hemp. But the bill prohibited the sale of inhalable hemp, alcoholic beverages containing CBD and the marketing of CBD products as a dietary supplement.

Also forbidden: the sale of any CBD-containing food or beverage unless FDA approves CBD as a food additive.

Some state legislatures and regulatory bodies have adopted a position taken by FDA that CBD cannot be added to conventional food or marketed as a dietary supplement. FDA, however, is now exploring a regulatory framework that would allow CBD to be lawfully marketed in such products.

Its exploration follows passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and treated it as an agricultural commodity subject to USDA’s jurisdiction.

But an absence of uniformity in regulations governing CBD is creating an atmosphere resembling the Wild West, said Brenda Morris of the Association of Food & Drug Officials (AFDO) during a recent public hearing hosted by FDA.

“Currently, a patchwork of laws exist for CBD across the nation,” she said.

Meanwhile, state officials may be encountering difficulties enforcing FDA’s position.

“With the widespread distribution and usage of CBD across the U.S., it’s making it very difficult for state and local regulators to continue with our stance that CBD cannot be used in food products,” Pam Miles, past president of AFDO, told FDA officials during the same public hearing.