Could this be the end of full spectrum CBD?
I don’t want to be paranoid or promote fear-mongering, but… I’m very, very worried. If current legislation is passed, full spectrum CBD would be banned, putting an end to my business and removing access to an effective supplement used by millions of people.
Ironically, as cannabis is being legalized in more and more parts of the country, the federal government (as well as several states) is pushing for major new restrictions on hemp and CBD.
In May 2023, an amendment to the 2025 Farm Bill (the Mary Miller amendment) passed through committee. If passed into law, this amendment would exclude all full-spectrum CBD products from being sold as hemp products, crippling the CBD industry. Full-spectrum CBD products would be considered marijuana products. No more picking up your CBD at the farmers market or health food store, and no more buying it online. Full spectrum CBD would only be available at cannabis dispensaries in legal states.
Some background: the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp that has “a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana) concentration of no more than 0.3%”.
Before the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp was legal to grow in some states, but only by institutes of higher education, state departments of agriculture, or under a state agricultural pilot program. There was essentially no market for CBD products. Even here in Vermont, which had a state hemp program, CBD was not available for sale in stores. When I first began using CBD for my daughter’s mental health issues, I had to order it from Colorado.
The 2018 Farm Bill redefined hemp as cannabis with a delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent by dry weight. The Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, clearing the way for the legal cultivation, possession, sale and distribution of the hemp plant.
The Farm Bill enabled the birth and growth of the CBD industry as we know it today. And boy, did it take off! Studies vary considerably, but show that between 21% and 60% of Americans have tried CBD - that is truly amazing, considering that six years ago you could only buy CBD products in a handful of states!
There were some loopholes in the 2018 Farm Bill, which enabled manufacturers to create products which were technically legal, but intoxicating. These include heavily processed, chemically altered cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC, HHC, and hemp-derived delta-9 THC. These altered cannabinoids are illegal in several states (including Vermont), but are legal under the Farm Bill. The Miller amendment seeks to ban these, but goes much, much further.
The Miller amendment would outlaw the sale of any hemp derived products containing “any quantifiable amount (as determined by the Secretary)” of THC. All full-spectrum CBD products contain trace amounts of THC, and have been shown to be much, much more effective than CBD isolate, which has had all other beneficial compounds in the hemp plant removed.
I make my CBD oil with the hemp flower itself, so it’s all full spectrum. Every time I have my products tested, the results for THC comes back as N.D. (not detected), meaning the THC levels are below the lab’s threshold - but that’s not the same as zero. No one seems to know what “any quantifiable amount (as determined by the Secretary)” might mean, so I don’t know if my products would be banned or not.
Even if my products were allowed, I would not be able to buy the raw materials to make them. The hemp flower and hemp concentrates I use to make my products would be banned. My little CBD business would be over.
It’s already challenging for farmers to grow cannabis with very low levels of THC. Farmers must test their crops before harvest, and if they contain more than 0.3% THC, they are considered “hot” and must be destroyed. Growing hemp without “any quantifiable amount” of total THC is practically impossible.
And the bad news doesn’t stop there. Last month, the House Appropriations Committee included language from the Miller amendment in the Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which was passed through committee.
If either of these measures passes, millions of Americans will lose access to safe and effective medicines they rely on.