The FDA Is About to Crack Down on Shady CBD Products
This ‘Wild West’ industry could be facing some law and order
Federal officials are coming for America’s latest health trend. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is gearing up to tighten its oversight of cannabidiol, better known as CBD — the non-intoxicating chemical cousin of THC that is marketed as a natural remedy for a wide variety of ailments.
Since late last year, products containing CBD — from pills, oils, and cosmetics to drinks, gummies, and even dog treats — have proliferated across the country. The boom is largely thanks to a change in federal law in December 2018 that legalized hemp, a low-THC variety of marijuana that had previously been categorized with pot and harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. That change opened the door for legal hemp-derived CBD and a market that could explode to $22 billion by 2022, according to the market research firm Brightfield Group.
Now a broad cross section of medical researchers, policy analysts, marijuana industry insiders, and federal regulators are worried that door was opened a little too wide. On June 20, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to a package of upcoming spending bills that directs the FDA to come up with new regulations for CBD products.
