New NY Law Regulates CBD Supplement Production

Around the country, states are reconsidering their relationships with cannabis. New York recently passed what some news sources are calling the most comprehensive law around the sale of hemp extract. Many consumers may be affected by this law, given that CBD consumption is on the rise. A CBD supplement is derived from hemp, a kind of cannabis that does not have the psychoactive properties of marijuana. 

Medium describes the differences between marijuana and hemp, from which CBD is often derived.

In 2018, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act, legalizing the production of industrialized hemp. Since the bill’s passage, CBD has become a billion-dollar industry. Despite legalization, the CBD industry remains largely unregulated.

Laws like the one in New York aim to change this. The new legislation dictates how industrial hemp growers and extract manufacturers can be licensed. Additionally, the law sets forth requirements around testing and labeling, which may help consumers know what is in the products they are buying. 

The New York Post notes that New York’s law requires growers, processors, and retailers to have their products tested by independent labs.

Members and proponents of the cannabis industry expressed support for the bill, saying that the new regulations should help improve safety and quality of the products.

New York’s CBD supplement law is also intended to protect consumers by prohibiting CBD sellers from claiming that CBD use can provide specific health benefits.

Though the New York law is one of the strictest regarding CBD, New York Upstate explains that it does not fully explain how these CBD supplement regulations come into play when CBD is used in food and beverages as opposed to creams and other non-edible products. 

A previous version of the CBD supplement bill stipulated that beverages could contain up to 20 milligrams of CBD, however, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, according to New York Upstate, says the final bill “defers decision making on hemp extracts, including CBD, as additives for food and beverages.”

This lack of regulation around CBD inclusion in food exists on a federal level as well. The FDA has not said whether or not CBD use in food is legal, and using this lack of expressed legality as a basis, New York’s state Agriculture and Markets Department issued an advisory determining CBD supplement inclusion in consumable products to be illegal, says New York Upstate.

The legality around CBD supplement use in food continues to develop, says New York Upstate. Reportedly, the law “defers decision making on hemp extracts, including CBD, as additives for food and beverages.” Members of the cannabis industry described this lack of specificity as avoidant, but approved the bill as a whole. 

Additionally, the new law may reduce the amount of unregulated product, produced out of state, that enters the New York market, presenting another possible positive for the New York cannabis industry. To further protect the New York industry, the law stipulates that New York companies only use crops grown in the state, says the New York Post. 

Join a Free CBD Supplements Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased a CBD supplement, it may have contained far less of the active ingredient that you were led to believe, and you may qualify to join this CBD supplement class action lawsuit investigation.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Now

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.