New hemp-derived CBD regulations in Colorado

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has finalized state testing requirements for hemp. The new regulations take effect on October 1 and include all hemp-derived goods intended for human consumption, including hemp-infused CBD products.

“We don’t want to burden the industry,” Jeff Lawrence, CDPHE director of environmental health and sustainability, told Westword. “But what we’ve learned is that there are things in hemp products that we obviously need to be considerate of. Since the inception of hemp, Colorado has been a leader in this industry. This will provide some better guidance.”

Testing will screen for things like pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents.

Hemp-infused products like foods, drinks, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and pet products will be subject to the new testing requirements. Industrial hemp products like textiles, fuel, and building materials, are excluded from the testing requirements. Hemp-derived smokable products, including those with modified cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC, are also excluded from the new regulations.

“Ultimately, this is a public-health issue. In 2018, when, statutorily, these products were allowed, we said it would be treated like every other food and dietary supplement requirement,” Lawrence said.

DEA-approved medical marijuana research facility coming to Denver

A Denver-based marijuana research and cultivation firm received approval from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to begin federally-approved medical marijuana studies.

The research license will allow MedPharm to study all of the molecules known to be made by the cannabis plant—more than 400 so far. The company will also be studying the interaction between phytocannabinoids and different brain cells.

“Access to the diversity of chemicals produced by cannabis has never been greater, and we are excited to unlock the medical potential of these compounds,” said Dr. Tyrell Towle, MedPharm’s director of chemistry and research.

Although MedPharm is licensed to grow medical marijuana for research purposes at the city and state levels, they’re still waiting on the DEA to approve federal licensing. That means that the company won’t be using its own marijuana for research. Currently, the University of Mississippi is the only federally licensed medical marijuana research supplier.

Colorado Cannabis Business Office focuses on social equity

Governor Jared Polis announced the creation of a new office aimed at supporting cannabis businesses and promoting social equity.

The Cannabis Business Office (CBO) was created as part of a bill passed earlier this year. $4 million was set aside for the program for the 2022-’23 fiscal year from the state Marijuana Tax Cash Fund.

According to the CBO, the office will:

“This office will offer tools like technical help and improve access to money for businesses. Where the federal government has fallen behind, Colorado will lead. Colorado is, and always has been, the best place to live, work, grow and sell cannabis,” Polis said in a press release.

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Check out some of our recent reviews:

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Incredible Edibles recommended Mountain High Select for newbies to cannabis edibles. “If you’re just starting out with CBD lollipops, this is a good option to start with as each lollipop comes with only 6 mg of CBD. They’re also economically priced.”

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The EU’s highest court has ruled that CBD is not a narcotic because “it does not appear to have any psychotropic effect or any harmful effect on human health.”

The ruling comes as the result of a lawsuit in France against a company that makes CBD oil from whole hemp plants. In France, only the fiber and seeds of hemp plants containing less than 0.2% THC can be used commercially.

The EU court ruled that France’s law banning the use of whole plant hemp-derived CBD went against the EU’s law on the free movement of goods.

“The national court must assess available scientific data in order to make sure that the real risk to public health alleged does not appear to be based on purely hypothetical considerations,” the court ruled.

“A decision to prohibit the marketing of CBD, which indeed constitutes the most restrictive obstacle to trade in products lawfully manufactured and marketed in other [EU] member states, can be adopted only if that risk appears sufficiently established,” the court wrote.

While individual countries can ban the free movement of goods for things like narcotic drugs, the court’s ruling means that those rules don’t apply to CBD.

Plus, as the court cited in their ruling, France has not banned synthetic CBD, which has the same properties as plant-derived CBD—making the prohibition of plant-derived CBD inconsistent.

The court’s decision could potentially open up the legal CBD market in Europe. Many CBD products currently exist in the grey market under rules that allow cannabis to be sold for agricultural purposes. Regulations about cannabis edibles and CBD have been stalled and in limbo, but the court’s decision could reopen a pathway to selling CBD edibles as food in Europe.

“With today’s ruling, CBD companies can expect a clearer route to achieving compliance across the EU. The harmonization of cannabinoid regulations could finally become a reality,” wrote the UK-based Association for the Cannabinoid Industry.

 

Researchers Study Whether Cows Fed Hemp Will Get Meat Eaters and Milk Drinkers High

Will feeding hemp to cattle pass along a high to humans? That’s what researchers at Kansas State University hope to discover after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded them a $200,000 grant.

Although the federal government legalized hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, it’s prohibited for use as animal feed, and no one really knows what effect cannabinoids have on cattle. Plus, using hemp as livestock feed could potentially result in concentrations of THC in meat and milk.

“Our goal is to fill in the knowledge gaps,” said Michael Kleinhenz, one of the researchers at Kansas State University. “Until feedstuffs containing hemp are established as safe in animals, our data will assist producers in managing situations involving intentional or unintentional hemp exposures.”

Fewer Vaping Illnesses Reported in Legal Marijuana States

According to a study conducted by the Yale School of Public Health, higher rates of e-cigarette and marijuana vaping did not result in more vaping-related lung injuries (known as EVALI) in states with legalized marijuana.

“Indeed, the five earliest states to legalize recreational marijuana—Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington—all had less than one EVALI case per 100,000 residents aged 12 to 64. None of the highest EVALI-prevalence states—Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Delaware and Indiana—allowed recreational marijuana use,” according to Yale researchers.

So what accounts for the difference? It turns out that the use of Vitamin E acetate, a vaping additive used to dilute marijuana oils in mostly black-market vaping products, is responsible for the rise in EVALI cases. People in states where marijuana is still prohibited are more likely to seek out black-market products.

Yale researchers used data collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) related to EVALI hospitalization and deaths nationwide.

Another Month, Another Colorado Marijuana Sales Record

Marijuana sales in Colorado have been breaking records nearly every month, despite (or maybe because of) the COVID-19 pandemic. July was no exception: Recreational marijuana dispensary sales amounted to $183,106,003, while medical marijuana sales amounted to $43,268,565. Combined, that’s $226,374,568 worth of weed, up 13.8% from June.

So far, Colorado dispensaries have sold more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana edibles, concentrate, and flower in 2020, amounting to $203 million in taxes for the state.

If cannabis sales continue to break records, 2020 could surpass 2019’s record of $1.75 billion in annual sales.

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Sour Lemon

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Grape

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Tangerine

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Our infusion process allows for dual absorption, which means it’s absorbed through both your mouth (sublingual) and in your liver (gastrointestinal) for a more complete effect.

This product is also unique in that it offers a variety of the known cannabinoids rather than just CBD alone!

At Mountain High Select, our goal is to produce high quality infused products. We test every batch of oil to ensure accurate dosage. You can locate testing results right on our product pages.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that they would not be making changes to the allowable THC limit for legal hemp. While the 2018 Farm Bill passed by Congress legalized hemp, it came with the requirement that THC content must be under 0.3%, and any hemp found to exceed that amount must be destroyed. The USDA says that it’s up to Congress to make changes.

“The Farm Bill set forth these requirements,” Bruce Summers, acting administrator of USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service, said on a call with reporters. “Any changes to these requirements require legislative action.”

“To go from 0.3 to one percent would have to be a statutory change,” he said. “In other words, Congress would have to take action. We couldn’t do that by regulation.”

While the THC limit will remain the same for hemp, the USDA is open to other changes to their rules. The USDA says it will use the 2020 growing season as a chance to “test drive the interim rule to help guide any adjustments that are made in the final rule.” After the 2020 harvest, the USDA will open a second public comment period before final regulations are set. The interim final rule will expire Nov. 1, 2021, after which the USDA will then deliver the final regulations.

One potential change could involve the disposal practices for “hot hemp.” Hemp that tests above regulated THC levels cannot be sold and must be destroyed. According to Summers, “there’s probably some flexibility there, and we hope to get some additional guidance on that out shortly.”

“Hot hemp” is ineligible for federal crop insurance programs, including the two new federal hemp insurance programs the USDA announced earlier this month.

Summers also said that there could be changes to the requirement that testing facilities must be certified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Hemp farmers have been concerned that there are too few certified labs, which will cause backlogs and delays in hemp testing.

“It’s something we’ve heard loud and clear. It’s something we’re dealing with and something we’re hoping to have more information out about shortly,” Summers said about the lab shortages.

The Farm Bill gives states the right to submit their own proposed hemp regulations. The Colorado Senate has urged the USDA to loosen some of its hemp regulations.

“As presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture…members, there will not be a hemp industry in Colorado,” said Colorado Sen. Don Coram (R-Montrose). “The rules and regulations are so onerous that we as farmers cannot comply, and the state cannot afford to comply.”

The state Senate adopted a resolution in January, pledging their support for regulatory revisions.

“Colorado has been a national leader in developing public policies that support hemp production, protect farmers and consumers, and treat hemp as an important agricultural product and not a controlled substance,” the resolution reads. “The State’s written comments on the interim rule present thoughtful and compelling recommendations on how the USDA’s rules could be improved to allow for greater flexibility and equity in state regulation of hemp production in a manner that protects farmers and consumers and promotes growth of the industry.”

Hold on to your CBD-infused lattes, because cannabis is going to space.

Front Range Biosciences, an agricultural technology company, has partnered with the University of Colorado, Boulder to send 480 hemp and coffee plant cultures to the International Space Station (ISS).

“This is one of the first times anyone is researching the effects of microgravity and spaceflight on hemp and coffee cell cultures,” said Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Co-Founder and CEO of Front Range Biosciences in a press release. “There is science to support the theory that plants in space experience mutations. This is an opportunity to see whether those mutations hold up once brought back to earth and if there are new commercial applications.”

The goal of the experiments is to see if zero gravity and radiation will mutate or genetically alter the coffee and hemp plants. Scientists will be able to see how the plants react to the stress of space travel. The research could help scientists develop plants that can endure drought and cold. On Earth, that could mean developing more resilient crops that can be grown in environments that don’t normally support hemp growth.

“We envision this to be the first of many experiments together,” said Louis Stodieck, Chief Scientist of BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “In the future, we plan for the crew to harvest and preserve the plants at different points in their grow-cycle so we can analyze which metabolic pathways are turned on and turned off. This is a fascinating area of study that has considerable potential.”

The hemp and coffee cultures will travel to the ISS aboard SpaceX CRS-20 in March 2020. The incubated cells will spend a month is space before returning to Earth to be analyzed by Front Range Biosciences.

In the future, we plan for the crew to harvest and preserve the plants at different points in their grow-cycle, so we can analyze which metabolic pathways are turned on and turned off,” Louis Stodieck, director of BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a statement. “This is a fascinating area of study that has considerable potential.”

The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp as a Schedule I substance, legalized the production of hemp, and removed barriers to federal research. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3 percent THC and has a variety of uses, including in textiles, bioplastics and biofuel, food, and insulation.

Hemp also contains high concentrations of CBD and other non-intoxicating cannabinoids.

While scientific research on hemp in space is in its early stages, it’s not the first time cannabis has left Earth. Earlier this year, Space Tango sent hemp seeds to the ISS for a series of experiments. The hemp seeds were sent back to Earth and planted for another series of experiments. The results have not yet been published.

Senators urge FDA to speed up CBD regulation

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and five other senators are calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue guidance on CBD within 90 days.

“Consumers need and deserve guidance. So do manufacturers and hemp growers. That is why I am calling on the FDA to establish a regulatory framework as it has promised to do for these products,” said Blumenthal.

Hemp-derived CBD was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but since then, the FDA hasn’t issued any rules for cannabis companies selling CBD products.

“Consumers rely on the FDA to conduct timely and appropriate oversight of new and emerging ingredients, and guidance from the FDA would also help manufacturers to develop safer, more effective, and more credible products for consumer use,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the FDA. “The market for CBD products is rapidly outpacing the FDA’s current regulatory efforts, and your agency clearly must expedite its efforts to promote accuracy and transparency within the CBD industry.

Along with Sen. Blumenthal, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) signed the letter addressed to the FDA.

Teen cannabis use in Washington declined after legalization

One of the arguments against legalizing marijuana was that it would increase teen drug use, but in Washington and other states that have ended cannabis prohibition, the opposite is true.

According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control, marijuana use “decreased or remained stable through 2016 among King County students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Among grade 10 students, the decline in use occurred among males while the rate among females remained steady. Use of alcohol or other substances was four times as frequent among marijuana users as among nonusers.”

Washington saw its first decline in teen marijuana use in 2012, the year it legalized cannabis. The researchers noted that the decline in youth marijuana use after legalization was consistent with trends reported in both Colorado and Oregon.

“Although the relationship between legal adult recreational use and youth use is not well understood, two possible reasons for the observed decline in youth use include reduction of illicit market supply through competition and loss of novelty appeal among youths,” according to the study. “Furthermore, it would be important to monitor the long-term role legalization might play to foster a permissive use environment given observed strong associations with use and individual and family factors that influence youth use.”

Study finds marijuana legalization doesn’t lead to increased crime

A federally funded study published in Justice Quarterly found that violent and property crime rates in Colorado and Washington did not increase after recreational marijuana was legalized. The crime rates stayed close to the average of other states where adult-use cannabis isn’t legal. Plus, since Washington legalized marijuana, burglary rates have actually declined more sharply than in states that haven’t legalized.

“Our results suggest that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes in Colorado or Washington,” according to researchers. “We observed no statistically significant long-term effects of recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in these states.”

Researchers looked at crime rates in Colorado and Washington from 1999 to 2016 and compared the data to 21 non-legal states. The study used crime statistics from the FBI.

“As the nationwide debate about legalization, the federal classification of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, and the consequences of legalization for crime continues, it is essential to center that discussion on studies that use contextualized and robust research designs with as few limitations as possible,” said Dale Willits, one of the study’s co-authors. “This is but one study and legalization of marijuana is still relatively new, but by replicating our findings, policymakers can answer the question of how legalization affects crime.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members of Congress are urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up its guidance on hemp-derived CBD products. Specifically, Congress wants the FDA to issue formal “enforcement discretion” regarding CBD.

Hemp was legalized last year thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, which made CBD legal as well. However, without guidance from the FDA, hemp and CBD are in a regulatory gray area. Lawmakers say that the FDA’s current approach to CBD has “created significant regulatory and legal uncertainty for participants in this quickly evolving industry.”

Currently, the FDA prohibits adding CBD to food or drinks marketed beyond a single state or to be added to food as a dietary supplement. Because of the regulatory confusion, some local governments have insisted that CBD is illegal in their state.

“Given the widespread availability of CBD products, growing consumer demand, and the expected surge in the hemp farming in the near future, it’s critical that FDA act quickly to provide legal and regulatory clarity to support this new economic opportunity,” lawmakers wrote.

The FDA has said it could take years to finalize CBD regulations. Congress isn’t waiting, and the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture is working on guidelines to submit to the FDA. According to U.S. Hemp Rountable, Congress is working on rules that would require the FDA to:

Lawmakers wrote that they appreciate that the FDA has pursued “enforcement actions against the worst offenders,” but that “it can do so while eliminating regulatory uncertainty for farmers, retailers, and consumers.”

“Without a formal enforcement discretion policy, anyone participating in the growing marketplace for legal hemp-derived products will continue to face significant legal and regulatory uncertainty.”

McConnell, who has been supportive of the hemp industry, does not support ending marijuana prohibition. Asked to comment of legalizing hemp but not cannabis, McConnell said that hemp is “a different plant. It has an illicit cousin which I choose not to embrace.”