USDA, DEA, FDA: For Some, the Most Stressful Acronyms in the Cannabis Industry

As many of you know, the USDA released the interim final rule for hemp production October 31st. The USDA received more than 4,700 comments and many of those comments were regarding the DEA testing requirement.

Drum roll…the USDA took advice from your submitted comments!!

The USDA reached an agreement with the DEA to temporarily remove the requirement for hemp farmers to have their crops tested in DEA-registered laboratories. This means that farmers can use a local testing lab if they comply with the other Interim Final Rules regulations. In addition, hemp that measures above 0.3% THC does not need to be disposed of by a DEA agency. A list of allowed disposal techniques can be found on the USDA website (or by clicking the button below) and include composting – a win for sustainability.

Unfortunately, other parts of the rule, such as the 0.3% total THC limit cannot be changed by USDA and can only be changed only by Congress.

Moving on to recent FDA news, the FDA has acknowledged that consumers want CBD and stated that the agency is working to move forward with regulations.

An interesting and promising comment from Stephen Hahn, FDA Commissioner: “We’re not going to be able to say you can’t use these products. It’s a fool’s errand to even approach that.” This is a small relief for many as we have some confidence that FDA will not pull the plug on CBD. The agency is still waiting for more scientific studies or data to allow CBD to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and has not stated a timeline for when CBD regulations will be released.

If you need assistance with any existing FDA requirements, or how to be more prepared when the FDA begins actively regulating, please feel free to reach out by clicking the button below!