WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vote Hemp, the nation’s leading grassroots hemp advocacy organization, has submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration regarding proposed regulatory policies for hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, products. Submitted at the invitation of the Food and Drug Administration, given recent December, 2018 legislation in the Farm Bill to legalize hemp farming in the U.S. and remove hemp from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act; Vote Hemp’s proposal for FDA regulation of CBD products focuses on the imperatives to 1) Require that U.S. manufactured CBD products be produced in accordance with FDA standards for dietary supplements; and 2) Assert the importance of FDA acceptance of only plant-derived CBD products within existing framework for dietary supplement manufacturing and labeling; and 3) Have FDA promptly issue an Interim Final Rule with an accelerated effective date authorizing the sale of hemp-derived dietary supplements and foods containing CBD.
To read Vote Hemp’s statement to the FDA, regarding CBD product regulation, please visit: www.VoteHemp.com/fdacomments.
“Vote Hemp is eager to continue this dialog with the Food and Drug Administration, to share our expertise on hemp products and the U.S. market for hemp goods, and ensure that consumers are able to obtain products manufactured according to the same best-practices and requirements for health and safety, that all other herbal dietary supplement products are accountable to,” said Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “The consumer demand for CBD products is for hemp plant-derived, high quality products, made from hemp grown by American farmers—not synthetic imitations. We look forward to engaging with FDA further to ensure the interests of hemp famers, business owners, and hemp consumers are protected.”
One of the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. hemp market, hemp-derived CBD product sales are expected to exceed $646 million in annual revenue by 2022, according to Hemp Business Journal. For more information about the hemp-derived CBD market in the U.S., please visit: https://www.votehemp.com/press_releases/annual-retail-sales-for-hemp-derived-cbd-products-estimated-exceed-646-million-by-2022/.
Vote Hemp consulted with State agriculture officials and calculated that approximately 78,176 acres of hemp crops were planted across 24 states during 2018 in the U.S., 40 universities conducted research on hemp cultivation, and 3,544 State hemp licenses were issued across the country. Data from market research by Hemp Business Journal supports an estimate of total retail sales of hemp food, supplements and body care products in the United States at $553 million. Sales of popular hemp items like non-dairy milk, shelled seed, soaps and lotions have continued to increase, complemented by successful hemp cultivation pilot programs in several states, and increasing grassroots pressure to allow hemp to be grown domestically on a commercial scale once again for U.S. processors and manufacturers. Hemp Business Journal has also reviewed sales of clothing, auto parts, building materials and various other products, and estimates the total retail value of hemp products sold in the U.S. in 2017 to be at least $820 million. The United States is the largest consumer market for hemp products in the world.
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Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop’s many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com.