There is a very unfortunate, and untrue, stigma which still surrounds CBD related products.
This actual stems from a long campaign against Cannabis starting from the early 20th century led to the effective criminalization of cannabis in 1937 – now there are various reasons for this and if you have time I wholeheartedly recommend reading up, as it was very politically driven at the time. This trend continued and even got worse until Charlotte Figi came into spotlight.
@LittleIvan via Twenty20
Charlotte Figi’s story
Charlotte was 3 months old when she sadly had her first seizure, by the time she was 5 she was having ~300 seizures a week. The Doctor’s gave up, thinking that there was nothing that they could do but thankfully her parents did not.
They continued to search and press for medical cannabis having heard that it may be of benefit and help their daughter. On this journey they discovered the Stanley brothers, who produced high CBD and low THC strains of cannabis, though this was not in demand at the time.
Once the CBD Oil regime was started Charlotte began to improve and her seizures were limited to 2 to 3 a MONTH. This particular strain then became known as “Charlotte’s Web” and this might be thought of as a turning point of the sentiment toward cannabis.
What Is Cannabidiol?
Cannabidiol is an organic chemical found in cannabis plants, including the hemp plant. There are over one hundred cannabinoids found within the cannabis plant. The most commonly known and looked down upon compound is known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), this is the compound which contains psychoactive properties.
While one of the lesser known compounds, which as you may have guessed is CBD, is non-psychoactive, making it a prime candidate for medicinal benefits without the mind-altering side effects.
Cannabis containing 0.3% or less of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is classified as hemp, while that containing over 0.3% of THC is classified as marijuana.
Is CBD Legal?
The short answer is, yes but there are quite a few grey areas still.
The often confusing legal status of CBD largely stems from the lack of congruity between the quickly changing federal and state laws, along with the status of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, and continuous misinformation and lack of clarity in the complex law between the hemp plant and marijuana.
Hemp Made Legal…
The US Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“Farm Bill”), which was then signed into law at the end of the year. The Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, expanding commercial cultivation practices, and legalizing the production of hemp on Indian tribal land and in U.S. territories.
Regulations regarding hemp now are under the charge of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) instead of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Given that hemp is now legal, most presume compounds extracted from it are legal as well. However, regulations do not necessarily provide legal status to hemp extracts.
As with most new laws in the United States, the structure and publication of laws surrounding CBD derived from Hemp are still yet not fully complete but hopefully are moving in the right direction.
Now add to the fact that various US states can have their own set of legislation that do not always conform to federal standards and vice versa, we are left with a plethora of varying and often unclear rules, but one thing is clear is the following:
At the federal level buying CBD, with THC content of less than 0.3% that is derived from the hemp plant, is currently legal.