Bottlenecks abound on the production end—and that’s not even counting the fundamentals of weather and hemp farming competence. Five years ago, farmers were racing to get in on the hemp craze with visions of $100,000 an acre dancing in their heads. This year, farming problems are coming into focus, with so many problems facing farmers—from […]
Hemp Business Executive
Why Patent Cannabis? For Markets, Mostly.
On May 20, Charlotte’s Web, the Colorado-based CBD giant and arguably one of the biggest names in legal cannabis, announced that the company was awarded its second federal patent on a cannabis plant. Unlike the company’s 2018 plant patent on a Farm Bill-compliant high-CBD hemp cultivar—which was the first hemp strain to receive federal intellectual […]
A Hidden Origin Story of the CBD Craze
The cure-all debate over the cannabis compound has distracted from the serious — and seriously odd — back story of how cannabidiol conquered the country. Long before CBD had become a trendy wellness elixir found in juice and moisturizer and ice cream and dog treats; before corporate chains like Walgreens and Sephora had decided to […]
Hemp-Derived THC Products: Legal or Loophole?
By Ian A. Stewart, Devon Mills and Neil Willner Hemp-derived CBD products have exploded onto the market since Congress removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in the 2018 Farm Bill. Now, new hemp-derived products are emerging that contain amounts of THC comparable to state-regulated marijuana consumer products, which are still illegal under federal […]
Selling CBD Products? The U.S. Supreme Court Just Raised the Stakes on Trademark Claims
by Jesse Mondry, Attorney at Harris Bricken Several months I wrote an article about CBD and false advertising under the Lanham Act and noted an important case on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning damages in trademark cases, Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc. (Supreme Court Docket No. 18-1233). As you may recall, the […]
Hemp, COVID and the Rise of the “Flexitarian”
Beyond Meat. Impossible burgers. Chick’n. Plant based meat alternatives were already on the rise as an increasingly attractive protein source for consumers looking to eat healthier and support more sustainable food production – and that was before COVID-19 ignited a global health pandemic and raised new concerns over animal-borne illness. New research predicts that trend […]
CBD Claims: Federal Enforcement Actions Are No Longer Limited to Warning Letters
by Nathalie Bougenies, Attorney at Harris Bricken The online sales of cannabidiol (“CBD”), including hemp-derived CBD products, have ramped up in response to the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. Regrettably, during these uncertain times, a handful of CBD companies have been taking advantage of people’s fear and anxiety over the spread of the virus, making certain claims […]
Hemp Industry Taking Off In Sunshine State: USDA Approves Florida’s Hemp Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved Florida’s hemp program that will allow farmers to grow hemp in the future, marking the official start of the hemp industry in the Sunshine State. On April 16, the Department of Agriculture announced that the hemp production plan under the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program for Florida has […]
Getting Started in Hemp Extraction: Step Three: Choose a Property
When designing cultivation facilities or other business types, the design process typically starts with first choosing a property, then choosing a building, and then designing the equipment and systems to outfit the building. When it comes to hemp extraction, we actually recommend the opposite: start with choosing your processing method, then design your facility and […]
Is synthetic CBD a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act?
By Arthur Hoffmann and Chris Gismondi Cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound found in the plant Cannabis sativa L. and is thought to have therapeutic properties. However, CBD derived from marijuana is an illegal controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§801, et seq.(CSA). This has led to growing interest in the use of genetic […]
