At least three entities will meet with the White House over the coming week to discuss the US Food and Drug Administration’s forthcoming guidance on CBD products.
On July 22, the FDA submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its “Cannabidiol Enforcement Policy; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability.” This is the final stage in a months-long process that began following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized cannabis plants with .3% THC or less, and all non-THC cannabinoids within the cannabis plant. Once the OMB signs off, the published policy will provide the first glimpse into how these already-mainstream products will be regulated from coast-to-coast.
(Cannabis Wire has been following the FDA’s deliberations, and you can catch up on all of our original reporting and analysis here.)
Already, three entities have scheduled meetings with the White House to be heard: on July 30, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable; on July 31, the National Industrial Hemp Council; on August 3, Ziese Farms, a hemp farm in Washington State.
Jonathan Miller, General Counsel of the US Hemp Roundtable, told Cannabis Wire, “I am planning to share the hemp industry’s perspective on the need for a clear regulatory path for the sale of CBD products, and will be urging the White House and FDA to institute immediately a safe harbor for the sale of CBD products that are manufactured under current FDA regulatory guidelines for foods and dietary supplements and do not make improper disease remediation claims.”
Larry Farnsworth, a spokesperson for the NIHC, told Cannabis Wire that the Council also organized a listening session with the FDA’s CBD Policy Working Group on Monday. Amy Abernethy, Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs, and Lowell Schiller, Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy, were also on the call, the FDA confirmed. Industry stakeholders present included entities like Canada-based Canopy Growth, one of the largest cannabis companies in the world. (Read Cannabis Wire’s coverage of Canopy’s expanding interests in the US.)
“We had a good listening session with the FDA on Monday,” Farnsworth said. “We’re looking forward to continuing that conversation with OMB on Friday. We want to continue to press our case for enforcement discretion and sensible regulations. No regulations in place right now leaves room in the market for bad actors. We’re advocating for a regulatory scheme that promotes consumer safety and that’s what we’ll communicate on Friday to the White House.”
