What's the Scoop with CBD?

So what’s the scoop with CBD? Been following its emergence. Once people know I’m in the natural products space, immediately, that’s their question. It seems everyone has familiarity, but few people really know details.

CBD stands for Cannabidiol. It’s one of a family of compounds found in extracts of hemp flower. Not seeds, not oil. It’s also a product that currently in the US is not legal - as a food, beverage or dietary supplement, yet is ubiquitous - it’s everywhere, even at my corner Goddess and Grocer. CBD containing products need to have a low level of THC (<0.3%), otherwise they are subject to DEA rules. We’re waiting on the implementation of Farm Bill requirements for national laws surrounding CBD and while FDA says they aren’t using enforcement discretion, they really are, only enforcing products making way-out claims.

CBD

Just a few companies have gone through the submission process to show their products with CBD are safe. This is a technical prerequisite for bringing products to the market and theoretically, any supplier needs to show this. Well, that obviously hasn’t happened broadly, so most of the products on the market have bypassed this important step, that ensures you have good standard source, extraction and generally a consistent product with known CBD quantities. And that’s the thing, just what is a safe quantity of actual CBD? And considering that hemp itself is a phtyoremediator, and in fact has been used in places like Chernobyl to clean up things like radiation and heavy metals, knowing your hemp source and testing for heavy metals and contaminants seems like a good QC practice. Most companies do not, so that’s a market safety risk.

I’m all in favor of a product with a lot of promise for sleep, anxiety and a couple other things, but let’s get this product safety thing down first. Only go to companies that can show you that stuff. More soon.

A couple CBD references:
https://hempsupporter.com/statement-on-the-status-of-hemp-derived-cbd-under-federal-law/
https://www.supermarketnews.com/organic-natural/cbd-product-retailers-still-risk-legal-encounters
https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2019/6/update-on-the-regulatory-status-of-cannabidiol-in