U.S. News & World Report –

March 30, 2019 –

COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) — The Ohio Senate has passed a bill to legalize hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol oil, a move that could create an industrial hemp industry in the state.

The bill, which was unanimously approved on March 28, would allow for cultivation of hemp as long as it contains less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive active ingredient in marijuana that makes users high. The legislation comes after a 2018 federal farm law reclassified hemp as a commodity rather than a drug.

“It is important to understand that hemp is not marijuana, it is much more versatile and lacks an appreciable amount of THC to cause any psychotropic effects,” Republican Sen. Steve Huffman, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement Thursday. “This is an incredible opportunity for our farmers to help diversify their crops by allowing them to grow legal hemp.”

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By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business –

The CBD gold rush has begun.

CBD, the chemical found in hemp and marijuana plants, is showing up in shampoos, lattes, body oils, gummy bears and dog treats. It’s being sold in coffee shops and farmer’s markets, mom-and-pops and high-end department stores and most recently, drugstore chain CVS.

“Literally overnight, you’re seeing CBD all around you and in everything,” said Troy Dayton, CEO of The Arcview Group, an Oakland, California-based cannabis investment and research firm. “This is a product that is going from relative obscurity to being on everyone’s mind: producers, consumers and especially entrepreneurs.”

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By Griffin Thorne • Attorney at Harris Bricken

We have been closely following California’s commercial hemp cultivation licensing law since it was proposed last year as Senate Bill 1409 (see here, here, and here). In March, I wrote about some of the roadblocks to implementing SB-1409’s commercial hemp cultivation programs, and the lengthy review process of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) regulation which would allow hemp cultivators to register with their county agricultural commissioners.

The CDFA’s regulation was recently approved, and as of April 30, 2019, the CDFA posted applications for registration for commercial hemp cultivation and hemp seed breeders (see here and here respectively).  It looks like these respective apps will not be submitted to the CDFA directly, but will instead be provided to county agricultural commissioners in the county in which a cultivator or seed breeder wishes to cultivate hemp.

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