[ad_1]
Mom will buy CBD at Walgreens if this bill is pbaded. UpperCut Images / Getty
CBD is already a big deal in America with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales each year. But the market for the second most famous compound of the pot could soon explode, thanks to a somewhat unlikely ally: the Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell.
The powerful Kentucky Republican included in this year's Farm Bill provisions that fully legalize industrial hemp. This bill is now a top priority for the Congress to adopt before the end of the year. If it would become law, the CBD could end up on the shelves of all American pharmacies.
"Once the CBD is fully legalized, we expect an absolute market explosion. Sales will reach $ 22 billion by 2022, which is ahead of the US cannabis industry, "said Bethany Gomez, research director for Brightfield Group, a cannabis research firm. "This growth will be absolutely the result of legalization."
CBD, a non-psychoactive and medicinal potted compound that can be used to treat a wide range of ailments, currently occupies a legal gray area in America. There are legal sources of CBD, but these sources require significant obstacles and the federal government rarely enforces CBD laws from an illegal source. This has created a system in which a large amount of CBD from illegal sources is sold in stores. This gray area has dampened CBD's growth by preventing major retail players like CVS and Walgreens from selling the drug. Most of the CBD is sold online or in small independent health stores.
McConnell's bill would probably change that. This year's agricultural bill removes industrial hemp, the most common source of CBD, from the Controlled Substances Act. Industrial hemp is a cannabis plant containing less than 0.3% THC. By making industrial hemp fully legal, McConnell's bill would make it easier for farmers to grow CBD-rich cannabis and less risky for large retailers like CVS to know that what they buy is legal.
Brandon Beatty, founder and CEO of CBD brand Bluebird Botanicals, said the bill would allow large retailers to stock CBD products. At the present time, CBD products are largely relegated to independent health stores.
"Many industry observers believe that the day the 2018 Farm Bill will be signed will be the day when some of the biggest players in the industry will place orders to get CBD-rich hemp extracts on their shelves. "
Gomez said the involvement of distribution chains in the DBC would blow up the area.
"Growth from one year to the next, even before legalization, has reached 80% by 2018 and is expected to close the year at $ 591 million. strong growth from one year to the next, but considering the fact that all chained retailers and large packaged consumer goods companies are excluded from the sector, it's tiny, " said Gomez in an email.
Industrial hemp looks like pot (because that's the case). It just does not have THC. Getty Images
The legalization of McConnell's hemp is an extension of what Congress did in its last Farm Bill in 2014. This law stipulated that it was legal to grow CBD-rich industrial hemp if a farmer received a research permit from a state government or university. Seth Goldberg, partner and head of cannabis practice at the Duane Morris law firm in Philadelphia, said the 2018 version would allow farmers to no longer need these special permits.
"McConnell's bill would remove industrial hemp from the CSA [Controlled Substance Act], which is a change in industrial hemp research program in the 2014 Farm Bill. Under this program, industrial hemp and its uses were reserved for state-regulated, university-affiliated agricultural research programs. " said Goldberg in an email.
These state research programs have become more common since 2014 and have been adopted by dozens of states, but they are often expensive and laden with heavy regulations. The Washington State Department of Agriculture has created a program on industrial hemp, but many farmers have never been involved through expensive permits and invasive regulations. McConnell's bill would remove any obligation to comply with these programs.
Beatty, of Bluebird Botanicals, said the Farm Bill would also expand banks' access to banks in the banking sector and allow farmers to take out crop insurance for hemp crops rich in CBD. Beatty said that these additional protections would further increase the market.
"In just five years, markets have grown rapidly to more than a thousand businesses and a number of large companies. The new 2018 Farm Bill protections will pave the way for many people who have not had the courage to enter the industry earlier but are seeing a booming market, "said Beatty in a statement. an email.
Goldberg, who oversees the Farm Bill for a West Coast pottery business group called the Western Regional Cannabis Business Alliance, said the hemp legalization measures appeared to be supported by Republicans and Democrats.
"The bill seems to have bipartisan support and nothing indicates that it will not be included in the 2018 Farm Bill when it will be pbaded," Goldberg said via e-mail.
The biggest problem with the Farm Bill could be a controversial proposal by Republicans to add new work demands for vouchers. The federal government's food stamp program is the largest part of the Farm Bill's expenditures.
Goldberg said the bill may not be pbaded until the end of the year, at the so-called "lame duck" session.
"There seems to be an effort to adopt the 2018 Farm Bill at the lame session. In any event, it does not appear that McConnel's bill is the cause of the delay and will be included in the bill, whether it be pbaded in 2018 or early in 2019. "
[ad_2]
Source link
