Welcome to our weekly roundup of CBD and hemp-related legal and regulatory news:
The 2018 Farm Bill that legalized nationwide hemp production also legalized all hemp derivatives and extracts, meaning CBD extracted from hemp is legal as long as the plant where it originated from meets the legal definition of hemp. As such, there’s no violation of the CBA to extract CBD from a hemp flower and then put the CBD through any type of manufacturing process. The legality was affirmed by a federal appeals court in Calif. Meanwhile, more than a dozen states have taken up legislation in 2022 to either ban or regulate the process, with mixed success. MJ Biz Daily.
A federal lawsuit is seeking class-action status and $200 rewards for each of the hundreds of consumers who purchased Curaleaf CBD wellness drops in Ore. in 2021 that inadvertently contained high doses of THC. More than a dozen people reported becoming ill from the product, at least five went to the emergency room and the estate of one family is seeking damages from the company for wrongful death. State regulators recalled all the bottles sold under the Select brand, and proposed a 70-day suspension and $200,000 fine.
Related:
Curaleaf sued again over CBD drops containing THC – Law 360 (sub. req.) The Oregonian.
Planet K Gifts asked a Texas federal judge to order an Austin suburb to restore water and wastewater services to one of its locations, claiming the utilities were shut off to force out what city officials have deemed an impermissible head shop selling CBD. Along with shutting off services without notice, the operator, Michael Kleinman, claims city officials also filed 175 complaints in municipal court against him and his second business, AusPro Enterprises. The complaints are based on the businesses not having proper water and wastewater access. The suit challenges a purportedly outdated city zoning ordinance that prohibits head shops from operating within Cedar Park. Kleinman and his businesses claim the city’s definition of head shop is too broad and hasn’t been updated following the 2019 legalization of hemp and CBD use in the state. Kleinman and Planet K Gifts also applied for a TRO that would require Cedar Park to restore city utilities to the store’s location. Law 360 (sub. req.).
The Hemp Alliance of Tenn. and the state Department of Agriculture are partnering on a project to study using fibers derived from the plant in the automotive industry and other sectors of the economy. The feasibility analysis will be conducted by the University of Tennessee. It’ll include developing a hemp fiber crop production budget for Tenn. farmers and an analysis regarding the costs, revenue and profits of processing hemp fiber in the state, including transportation and supply chain logistics. The broad outlook portion of the study will assess the likelihood for successful Tenn.-based production and processing for the various major uses of hemp fiber, particularly in the automotive industry. TNJ.
The bill was passed by the state House following unanimous approval in the Senate. It would allow farmers to continue to grow hemp as a foundation for the fiber found in rope, garments and other products, as well as CBD products such as oils, vapes and other consumables. The USDA Domestic Hemp Production Rule is scheduled to lapse by the end of June, so lawmakers felt pressured to move quickly. There are about 1,500 hemp growers and more than 1,200 processors in the state registered under the USDA rule. Fox 8.
The APPlife website, Global Hemp Service, completed its beta period and is a fully-functioning e-commerce platform that offers a line of hemp- and CBD-related products, including those for personal, home, beauty, organic and industrial uses. The goal of Global Hemp Service is to unify hemp stakeholders and support the industry’s growth in all sectors where hemp can be applied. APPlife Digital Solutions.
A complaint by Gareld Eaton and Robert Bruno ask the federal court for an injunction stopping the Ill. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation from granting 185 cannabis licenses until the rules are revised. Eaton and Bruno also filed a TRO to block the state from issuing the licenses while their suit is pending. Their applications were denied because Eaton is based in Ariz. and Bruno hasn’t been a resident of the state longer than five years. Law 360 (sub. req.).
Pamela Mildred Middlekauff claimed her Arizona Patient Medical Marijuana Registry Identification Card was sufficient evidence that she held a valid prescription or order for the marijuana she was found with. Middlekauff’s attorney stressed the decision makes Iowa a “hostile ground” for any medical marijuana patients traveling with their medications. Law 360 (sub. req.).
Susan K. Musta claims the arguments used in a DOJ friend-of-the-court brief filed in May urging the SCOTUS not to grant review in her case were “unusually weak.” The department argued the legislative and executive branches should be allowed to resolve the tensions between federal and state cannabis laws without interference from the courts, and judicial review of cannabis policy would undermine this process. However, Musta notes this assertion is unrealistic, and that the government is in an impossible position since it won’t advocate for limiting the scope of federal drug policy, but neither will it justify continuing to prosecute the drug war against state-legal cannabis activity in light of its hands-off approach. Law 360 (sub. req.).
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