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A brain protein associated with depression and Alzheimer’s in young marijuana users has now also been linked to stress and anxiety.

Previous studies have shown that marijuana can reduce stress and quell anxiety in adults. New Canadian research indicates the same might not be true for adolescents. Instead, young cannabis users often develop a brain protein associated with stress and anxiety, according to the study.

The research, which was published in the JAMA Psychiatry journal Wednesday, provides another important clue to how marijuana affects the developing brain. However, the scientists behind the study were quick to state their findings don’t establish a clear link between cannabis use and anxiety.

“Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in the world but we know very little about the impact it has on the brain, especially in young users whose brains are still developing until the age of 25,” Dr. Romina Mizrahi, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “These findings are an important step forward, but more studies are needed to better understand the role of cannabinoids and neuroimmune signaling.”

Utilizing technology to scan the brains of 24 young long-term cannabis users and 27 young non-users, scientists found that the cannabis users had higher levels of brain protein TPSO. In prior research, TPSO has been associated with depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and brain inflammation. Furthermore, young subjects with cannabis use disorder, which is qualified by people who develop an overdependence on marijuana, reported the highest levels of this brain protein.

This discovery shocked scientists, as they had hypothesized the exact opposite. When comparing cannabis users and non-users, researchers expected that marijuana users would have low levels of “neuroinflammation biomarkers,” including the TPSO brain protein. That’s because marijuana use, as referenced above, is often associated with reducing inflammation.

“Having a hypothesis disproven this clearly is rare, but this is a strong finding,” Mizrahi told CTV News in a statement.

Next, Mizrahi and her team will examine whether or not marijuana abstinence would cause the elevated levels of TPSO brain protein to return to normal. Previous research has shown that marijuana legalization does draw teenagers to use cannabis, but instead lower youth marijuana use rates.

The Malaysian Court of Appeal is set to hear the appeal of a man who was convicted of and received a death sentence for trafficking cannabis, which he said he used for medical purposes.

In August 2018, Muhammad Lukman Mohamad, a 30-year-old father, was found guilty in the Shah Alam High Court after being charged with three counts of trafficking approximately 3,000 ml of delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (oil), 1,422 g of delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol and just over 279 g of cannabis flower in Bandar Mahkota, Banting in December 2015.

The sentence resulted in a public outcry, with citizens creating a petition that garnered tens of thousands of signatures against the penalty, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad stating publicly that Muhammad Lukman’s case should be reviewed, and a prominent MP, Nurul Izzah Anwar, referring to the ruling as a “miscarriage of justice.”

Muhammad Lukman will appear in court Nov. 27 in an attempt to plead for his life after three justices set the hearing date early Thursday morning.

One of the three, Justice Yaacob Md Sam, earlier granted application filed by Muhammad Lukman’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, to include additional grounds on his petition of appeal. The deputy prosecutor had no objections to Hisyam’s application.

Muhammad Lukman’s legal team depicted the accused as a kind, generous and devoted Muslim who would distribute the oil for free to patients who were unable to afford it. Although he has made some unfounded claims about the product’s ability to treat certain types of cancers, a variety of patients have testified to his generosity in providing the drug.

Despite much talk of legalizing medical cannabis, the drug continues to be prohibited in Malaysia for both medical and recreational purposes.

Possession of 50 g or less can net the accused a sentence of 10 years in prison, and a conviction for drug trafficking in Malaysia carries an automatic penalty of death.

Marijuana and sperm have a complicated and confusing relationship. Some studies have found that men who smoke marijuana have a higher sperm count. Other research has found they have a lower sperm count. Regardless, what’s decided is that the hundreds of chemicals in marijuana tinker with sperm on a deep level — and new research demonstrates why.

In a study released Thursday in Scientific Reports a team from Denmark reveal that, for better or worse, the body’s sperm making machinery knows how to recognize cannabinoids, the active chemicals in marijuana.

It turns out that there are far more signs of the endocannabinoid system in testicles and sperm cells than previously thought. Endocannabinoids are a network of neurotransmitters that are naturally manufactured by the body, but they bear a similarity to cannabinoids, the chemicals that occur naturally in cannabis, which are sometimes called exogenous cannabinoids by scientists. Both the endocannabinoids we make ourselves (called endogenous cannabinoids) and exogenous cannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors throughout the body.

In this study, after analyzing testicular tissue samples of the 15 men, the researchers found there are plenty of endocannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids in the testicles and sperm cells too.

That’s important because it tells us that humans sperm-production hardware is attuned to interacting with cannabinoid chemicals. So when we add exogenous cannabinoids into the mix, after say a person smokes a bowl, it could have effects on how that sperm-production machinery operates.

Those effects may have been overlooked before, says lead study author Niels Skakkebæk, Ph.D., an affiliate professor at the University of Copenhagen.

“Andrologists like me have for generations been focusing on other hormone aspects, but overlooked the possibility that endocannabinoids may participate in the normal sperm and hormone production,” he explained in a press release sent to Inverse. “I was surprised to find that endocannabinoids were so widely expressed in all cell types in the testis, both in the germ cells and the hormone-producing cells.”

This study found that there are signs of the endocannabinoid system in both testicular tissue and germ cells, showing that the machinery that the body uses during sperm production may also be affected by cannabinoids from marijuana. 

Skakkebæk’s study was conducted on a small sample of 15 men with testicular germ cell cancer, who agreed to have tissue samples of their testis analyzed by scientists. When they analyzed those samples, they found that testicular tissue and germ cells, which eventually become sperm, had three key ingredients of the endocannabinoid system: the actual endocannabinoid chemicals themselves, the receptors that they bind to, and enzymes that break those chemicals down.

In the tissue samples, they detected an endocannabinoid called 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), which is one of the primary parts of the endocannabinoid system. They also found genetic transcripts that code for the endocannabinoid receptors in germ cells, and evidence that enzymes that break down endocannabinoids were “abundantly present” in germ cells.

That shows that the body’s sperm manufacturing plant has “machinery to synthesize and metabolize endocannabinoids.” That suggests that this machinery may also be attuned to the extra cannabinoids that fill our bodies after smoking weed — though it’s unclear exactly what happens when we overload that system.

I was surprised to find that endocannabinoids were so widely expressed in all cell types in the testis,

Skakkebæk notes that his entire study was inspired by work showing that marijuana could have negative impacts on sperm development in men who smoked at least once per week. “We did see a hint a couple of years ago, when we found that young Danish men, who had used marijuana, had significantly poorer sperm counts than their peers,” he added.

But there other studies that suggest that the relationship between marijuana and sperm quality is more nuanced. A paper released February in Human Reproduction examined 662 men who reported their marijuana use. Within that sample, 365 men who had smoked weed before had significantly higher sperm counts than the 297 who hadn’t.

Scientists are still studying how smoking marijuana impacts sperm count, but they've recently shown that the endocannabinoid system might be tightly tied to sperm production. 

Compared to the men in the Danish who smoked once per week that’s far less cannabinoid exposure — which could partially explain these results. 

That alone differentiates it from the 2015 study on Danish men that Skakkebaek refers to, but there was another key difference. To be counted as a marijuana user in this study the men only had to report smoking weed at least more than two joints (or the equivalent) in their entire lives. 

The lead author of that study, Feiby Nassan, Ph.D. a research fellow at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, offered two explanations for these results. One was that we shouldn’t be too hasty to draw conclusions from them (there could have been other factors influencing sperm count beyond smoking weed), but the other was that the amount of marijuana smoked has a big influence on sperm itself:

“Low levels of marijuana use could benefit sperm production because of its effect on the endocannabinoid system, which is known to play a role in fertility, but those benefits are lost with higher levels of marijuana consumption,” she explained.

Combined with Skakkebæk’s study, these new results point to just how tightly the endocannabinoid system and sperm production are tied. They’re literally built into one another on a biological level. In the future, we may finally be able to nail down exactly how smoking impacts that special relationship.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurological disorder that gets worse with time. There is no known cure for this disease, which causes a lack of control over bodily movements, depression, cognitive decline, and more. 

This condition can be a very debilitating disorder, because it can affect eating, sleeping, and many other vital bodily functions and activities. Decades of research have been dedicated to understanding the role of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the disease, but the genetic and environmental factors that cause people to develop PD are unknown. 

Research Overview 

Substantial research has demonstrated the neuroprotective, antidepressant, analgesic, and antioxidative properties of cannabis. Because all of these factors are linked to Parkinson's disease, cannabis may help manage the multifaceted symptoms of this neurological condition.

Medical cannabis use could help manage the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. (Photo: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps)

The Studies

Animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may play an important role in protecting against the neurodegeneration that is seen in PD. A 2011 study in the British Journal of Pharmacology demonstrates that THCV may be particularly important for this neuroprotective effect. Preventing the loss of dopamine-producing neurons is at least partially thanks to activity at the CB2 receptor, according to a 2009 study in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

A large 2004 survey of 339 PD patients revealed that cannabis relieved symptoms in 46% of the patients, who reported improvements in muscle rigidity and various aspects of motor control, including tremors. Similar motor symptom relief was found in an observational study of 22 PD patients, as reported in 2014 in the journal Clinical Neuropharmacology. This study also found that cannabis significantly improved both sleep and pain for these patients.  

There have been relatively few clinical trials examining the benefit of cannabis for Parkinson's. A 2004 randomized controlled trial of 17 PD patients, published in Neurology, failed to reveal any benefit of oral cannabis extract. However, additional clinical trials are forthcoming in Canada, where researchers from the University Health Network, Toronto will be examining the effects of cannabis oil with various amounts of THC on pain, sleep, and motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease. 

Patient Perspectives

Actor Michael J. Fox is perhaps the most prominent Parkinson's disease patient and spokesperson. Diagnosed at 29 while he was filming “Doc Hollywood” in 1991, Fox didn't reveal his health condition to the public until 1998, seven years after the fact. Today, the acclaimed actor is not only a survivor of Parkinson's disease but also a vocal advocate for cannabis treatment.

In a 2016 interview with the luxury lifestyle magazine Haute Living, Fox explained, “I was diagnosed 25 years ago, and I was only supposed to work for another 10 years. I was supposed to be pretty much disabled by now. I'm far from it.”

A two-pronged survey focusing on Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis (MS) was hosted online by the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2016. Participants who used cannabis reported high levels of effectiveness and lower levels of disability on the survey, especially with regard to mood, memory, and fatigue. The survey results were subsequently published in the journal Complementary Therapeutic Medicine in 2017. 

What the Experts Say 

Despite the encouraging results of early studies, not every medical expert is rushing to prescribe medical marijuana to Parkinson's patients. This resistance may be in part due to issues with federal illegality as well as the lukewarm stance of the Parkinson's Foundation, which maintains that “research is still needed to determine how medical marijuana should be administered and how its long-term use can affect symptoms of PD.”

However, a Parkinson's disease-focused media source, called Parkinson's News Today, has been more open in acknowledging the potential benefits of cannabis treatment, notably for older patients. The news source cited a 2018 study published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine that focused on 2,736 patients ages 65 and older who used cannabis for a variety of health reasons. Researchers found that nearly one-fifth of these patients discontinued or reduced their opioid usage after six months of using cannabis. 

One study shows the one-fifth of patients have discontinued or reduced their opioid usage by using cannabis. (Photo: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps)

As a result of this study, Parkinson's News Today asserted that, “medical cannabis is a safe and effective way for older people to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's, cancer, and other diseases …The use of medical cannabis has grown significantly in recent years. Because of an aging population, the use has increased in older people in particular.”

The Bottom Line

Despite some conflicting reports about the effectiveness of cannabis for Parkinson's symptoms, there is enough promising evidence to justify additional placebo-controlled clinical trials. Because most people who have Parkinson's are older than 60, its particularly important for these patients to discuss cannabis use with their doctors, to prevent potentially dangerous drug interactions with other medications.

India has banned the sale of all e-cigarettes in the country in response to the string of vaping-related deaths in the United States, according to a report from CNN.

“Unfortunately, e-cigarettes got promoted initially as a way in which people can get out of the habit of smoking cigarettes. It was to be a weaning process from using cigarettes,” said India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“The Cabinet rightly thought it is time and we immediately took a decision so that the health of our citizens, of our young, is not thrown to a risk,” she added.

US Lung Illnesses Prompt Action

Sitharaman said that the rash of lung illnesses that have been linked to vaping in the U.S. and domestic concerns about e-cigarettes led the Cabinet to act. She added that the government will soon issue an emergency ordinance banning all electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) devices. The ordinance will then be taken up by the nation’s Parliament during its next session to be enacted into law.

India’s ban on vaping products will prohibit the sale, manufacturing, importing, exporting, distribution, storage, and advertising of e-cigarettes. The ban applies to all ENDS, heat-not-burn, and e-hookah devices, according to a press release.

“These novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavors and their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children,” the government said in the release.

Violations of Ban Carry Stiff Penalties

First-time violators of the ban on e-cigarettes in India could face up to a year in prison, a fine of 100,000 rupees (about $1,400), or both. Further violations of the ordinance could be subject to penalties of up to five years in prison and a 500,000 ($7,000) fine. Storing e-cigarette devices would subject offenders to six months in prison and a fine of 50,000 rupees ($700).

Businesses with vaping devices on hand will be required to declare their inventory and turn over all e-cigarettes and cartridges to their local police station.

US Also Taking Action on Vaping

In the United States, last week the Trump administration announced that it would ban the sale of flavored nicotine vape products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late last week that there have been 380 confirmed and probable cases in 36 states of lung illnesses experienced by people who vape.

The previous week the agency had announced that more than 450 cases of pulmonary disease could be associated with vaping, but that number also included reports of possible cases. Symptoms of the mysterious illness include severe shortness of breath, vomiting, fever, and fatigue. Other symptoms include coughing, chest pain, diarrhea, and signs of infection, such as fever, without a known cause.

For years, marijuana has been viewed as one of the fastest growing industries on the planet. And if Wall Street's projections for 2029-2030 prove accurate, it's likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

However, a closer examination of cannabis stocks shows that expectation and reality have been from the same of late. Although marijuana stocks blazed out of the gate during the first quarter, their performance has been downright abysmal over the past 5.5 months.

While some folks would rightly view this bifurcation as an opportunity to snag incredible deals on businesses that should outpace the market, in terms of growth, for the next decade, it might not be such a wild idea to consider that this weakness in pot stocks may persist for many quarters to come. Here are four reasons this recent weakness in marijuana stocks may become a new norm.

 

1. The black market is capitalizing on a nascent industry

Arguably the biggest obstacle to overcome is that there's no precedent to legal marijuana, which has opened the door for the historically enormous black market.

In Canada, the legal market has been contending with persistent supply shortages since the green flag waved on Oct. 17, 2018. There are multiple factors to blame for these shortages, including the growers themselves, which waited on expanding cultivation capacity until they were certain the Cannabis Act would become law, leaving them short of supply as legalization kicked off.

But a bigger issue has been Health Canada, which began the year with more than 800 cultivation, processing, or sale licenses on its desk for review. Such a large backlog has meant extensive wait times for growers. Aphria (NYSE:APHA), which projects as a top-four grower in Canada with 255,000 kilos at peak production, has been waiting for more than a year to get the go-ahead on its cultivation license application at Aphria Diamond. When operational, Aphria Diamond will account for 140,000 kilos of Aphria's 255,000 kilos of annual output.

Meanwhile, taxation is to blame for sales disappointments in select U.S. states. California, for instance, opened its doors to recreational marijuana sales in 2018, yet saw legal weed sales decline by $500 million from the previous year when only medical marijuana sales were legal. The problem is that the Golden State is taxing the daylights out of its adult-use consumers, and it's clearly resulted in a thriving black market. As long as illicit producers can drastically undercut legal-channel pricing, the industry has a serious problem.

 

2. Profits matter, and income statements aren't up to snuff

Secondly, understand that as the marijuana industry matures, Wall Street and seasoned investors will be looking for these companies to begin delivering like time-tested businesses. This is a fancy of way of suggesting that operating results actually matter now.

The problem is that, with the supply and tax problems noted above, earnings results haven't been up to par.

Mind you, there have been exceptions to the rule. A handful of U.S. multistate operators have already turned the corner to recurring profitability. Further, extraction-service providers in Canada and the U.S. look to have a business model that'll lead to rapid growth and highly predictable sales and cash flow. But when taken as a whole, the cannabis industry hasn't performed as expected.

Earlier this month, Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) wound up reporting fiscal fourth-quarter results that largely underwhelmed Wall Street. Despite a substantive increase in production, Aurora missed its own sales guidance (albeit unaudited) from five weeks prior, and came nowhere near the recurring positive adjusted EBITDA that was alluded to when the year began. More specifically, Aurora Cannabis' press release pointed to supply issues that were beyond the control of the company moving forward, which suggests that these early stage operating struggles are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

Until cannabis stocks demonstrate that they can be profitable, this industrywide weakness may persist.

 

3. History tends to repeat itself

Thirdly, don't overlook the propensity of history to repeat itself, especially when it comes to next-big-thing investments.

Over the past quarter century, there have been a number of huge growth opportunities presented to investors, including the rise of the internet, business-to-business commerce, genome decoding, 3D printing, blockchain, and even marijuana. This is just a snippet to a really long list. And while there have been plenty of businesses within these movements that've been wildly successful over the long run, the initial run-up in valuations for these next-big-thing investments was eventually met with a burst bubble.

The fact is that Wall Street and investors are, historically, always overzealous when it comes to next big growth story; and I doubt marijuana will be any different. Sales and profit estimates for cannabis stocks have been falling precipitously throughout the year, and that's a trend liable to continue with black market production stepping up with supply and tax issues problematic throughout much of North America.

 

4. Trust is a big problem

Finally, there's a clear trust problem with marijuana stocks. And when there's a trust issue, it pretty much doesn't matter how inexpensive a company or industry looks to investors – they're going to avoid it.

The aforementioned Aphria has been contending with trust concerns since early December. Nine months ago, the duo of Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research released a scathing short-side report alleging that Aphria grossly overpaid for its Latin American assets. Although an independent committee didn't find this to be the case, Aphria's longtime CEO Vic Neufeld stepped down after conflicts of interest regarding the deal were uncovered. As icing on the cake, Aphria still wound up taking a $50 million Canadian writedown on its Latin American assets in a subsequent quarter, leaving investors confused as to what to believe.

Of course, there's been no greater violation of investor trust than what CannTrust Holdings (NYSE:CTST) did back in early July. Following a review by Health Canada, CannTrust announced that it had been growing unlicensed cannabis in five rooms for a period of six months. Furthermore, it appears that certain top-level executives, including now-former CEO Peter Aceto, were aware of these blatant violations. For the time being, sales are suspended for CannTrust, and quite a bit of its inventoried marijuana is being held by Health Canada as it awaits punishment.

Everything discussed in points 1 through 3 are fixable for pot stocks, but trust takes a long time to rebuild. That makes it highly likely that marijuana stocks may struggle for multiple quarters to come.

You may be able to improve how well CBD is absorbed by the body and delivered to your bloodstream by using CBD with food.

Now that you know what CBD oil is, how it’s different from hemp oil, and you’ve discovered the natural benefits of regularly taking CBD oil, you’re likely curious as to whether there are ways to maximize the effectiveness of your daily CBD supplement. 

One of the ways you can improve how well CBD is absorbed by the body and delivered to your bloodstream is to schedule your supplement with your eating schedule in mind – such as taking CBD with food or without food.

You may have discovered a surprising amount of conflicting information on the internet about whether it’s best to take your CBD oil on an empty stomach or after meals. When you look at how CBD is digested, however, the answer becomes clear.

Should you use your CBD with food? In short, yes. Using CBD oil with food may improve how the body interacts with its active compounds like CBD. 

Why Taking CBD with Food is Beneficial

Taking your CBD with food can improve the supplement’s bioavailability, and eating certain types of food can improve it further. Bioavailability is the degree and rate that a substance, in this case CBD, is absorbed and delivered to the bloodstream where it can interact with the body’s native systems.

When you take any supplement orally, its active ingredients are absorbed through the digestive system. If we’re looking at specifically CBD oil, the CBD and other compounds are first broken down in the stomach before being absorbed by the small intestine and then sent through the portal vein directly to your liver. It’s at the liver that having certain foods in your system can become beneficial to the absorption rate of CBD.

At the liver, a family of enzymes called cytochrome P450 (CYP450) acts on CBD, metabolizing the compounds before they’re distributed through the circulatory system. During this process, what occurs is a phenomenon referred to as first pass metabolism, which breaks CBD into more than 100 different metabolites, many of which are not used by the body and quickly excreted. This diminishes the concentration of CBD and therefore reduces its bioavailability. In short, less CBD reaches your bloodstream due to first pass metabolism.

When you use CBD oil with certain types of foods, however, the loss of CBD concentration has limited impact because the foods help CBD to bypass the first pass metabolism process. By using CBD with food, you can help ensure a greater concentration of CBD is absorbed than when you use CBD without food.

Ideal Foods to Take CBD Oil With

The best types of foods to eat with CBD oil include medium and long chain triglycerides, which are fatty acids. These types of fatty acids serve as a strong binding agent for cannabinoids like CBD, and are directly metabolized into energy by the liver so the loss of CBD concentration through first pass metabolism is limited. This means that your body can burn those fats and put them – and the CBD and other trace cannabinoids they hold – to use right away.

Just recently researchers from the University of Nottingham backed the beneficial effects of taking CBD with fatty acids. In a recent study, they found that co-administering CBD with long chain triglycerides bypassed some first pass metabolism, allowing significantly more CBD to be absorbed. Another study by a separate team of researchers found the bioavailability of a cannabinoid product was four times higher when taken after a meal.

So what types of foods should you take with CBD oil? Medium chain fatty acids have 6 to 10 carbons, while long chain fatty acids are those with 14 or more carbons. They’re found in most fats, oils, and certain foods, including:

• Coconut oil
• Olive oil
• Soybean oil
• Sesame oil
• Fish
• Nuts
• Avocado
• Meat
• Eggs

You can even get creative and make your own DIY CBD edibles at home, ensuring you are using CBD with food. Whether it is CBD gummies, CBD smoothies, CBD pasta, and more, there is no shortage of ways to add CBD to your meals. Here are some CBD recipes to get you started.

Don’t Want to Worry About Food?

There are other options for improving the bioavailability of CBD if you’d rather not worry about taking your supplement with the right types of food.

Medical Marijuana, Inc.’s Real Scientific Hemp Oil™ (RSHO™) Liquids combine our award winning CBD oil with medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil sourced from wholesome coconut oil and sustainably sourced palm oil. These saturated fats serve as an effective binding agent for CBD to be efficiently absorbed by the body. Available in our Green, Blue, and Gold Label varieties, each standard serving size of RSHO™ Liquid contains 31 mg, and you can decide whether to increase or decrease your intake based on what’s right for you.

You can learn even more about the benefits of RSHO™ Liquids here.

You can also increase CBD bioavailability by using different methods of consumption. Try taking your CBD oil sublingually, letting it to sit under the tongue for 60-90 seconds, before swallowing. 

This allows the CBD to absorb right through the mucous membranes of your mouth and bypass the digestive system. Vaping CBD, in which you inhale a clean, CBD filled cloud, allows the CBD compounds to be absorbed quickly and efficiently through the alveoli in your lungs.

Learn More about CBD Oil

Looking to learn more about how to best incorporate CBD oil into your health and wellness routine? Visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. CBD Oil Education page. Want to learn more about the types of CBD oil products we carry? Check out our CBD Oil Buyer’s Guide.

Shop the Medical Marijuana, Inc. online store to get started with CBD oil supplements today.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R), a chief proponent of a hemp legalization provision in the 2018 Farm Bill, has put the pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the path for lawful marketing of hemp-derived CBD products. It's the latest push by the Senator to get CBD products more funding to educate consumers and to utilize the benefits in food items or dietary supplements.

Prior to today's movement from McConnell, the FDA has said that allowing CBD to be sold as food items or dietary supplements would require it to develop alternative regulations that could take years to complete if no congressional action was used. 

McConnell's plan is to insert language into a congressional spending report that is asking the FDA to “issue a policy of enforcement discretion with regard to certain products containing CBD” within 120 days — something that will help stakeholders clarify rules, which, in effect, could make banks become more willing to service CBD companies.

Here's a look at the full report language from Mitch McConnell to the FDA:

“As previously mentioned, the Committee provides $2,000,000 for research, policy evaluation, market surveillance, issuance of an enforcement discretion policy, and appropriate regulatory activities with respect to products under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration which contain cannabidiol (CBD) and meet the definition of hemp, as set forth in section 297A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639o). Within 90 days, FDA shall provide the Committee with a report regarding the Agency’s progress toward obtaining and analyzing data to help determine a policy of enforcement discretion, and the process in which CBD meeting the definition of hemp will be evaluated for use in products. Within 120 days, FDA shall issue a policy of enforcement discretion with regard to certain products containing CBD meeting the definition of hemp as defined by section 297A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1964 (7 U.S.C. 1639). Such enforcement discretion shall be in effect until FDA establishes a process for stakeholders to notify FDA for use of CBD in products that include safety studies for intended use per product, and makes a determination about such product. FDA is encouraged to consider existing and ongoing medical research related to CBD that is being undertaken pursuant to an Investigation New Drug (IND) application in the development of a regulatory pathway for CBD in products under the jurisdiction of FDA and to ensure that any future regulatory activity does not discourage the development of new drugs.”

CBD industry response

In general, the CBD industry has been receptive to McConnell's proposal to the FDA. Here's what both John Huemoeller, CEO of AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc., and Jenelle Kim, Founder and Chief Formulator of JBK Wellness Labs, had to say.

Huemoeller: "Last year, hemp and CBD were legalized through the 2018 Farm Bill. A few months ago, the DEA requested an increase in the amount of cannabis grown in the U.S. for research. Now it's time for the FDA to recognize that cannabis and CBD products aren't just a fad, but, because of their many wellness benefits, they are here to stay. We look forward to understanding how these new regulations may help the industry grow by setting needed safety standards and provide consumers with an overall improved level of trust in CBD and other cannabis products."

Kim: "Mitch McConnell’s move to call on the FDA is certainly a progressive and important move, which will help to open the doors for more people to reap the incredible benefits of CBD. It is vital to remember that hemp is one of the 50 Fundamental Herbs in Chinese Medicine and its healing properties date back 4000 years. For a medicinal herb that has been used responsibly for thousands of years as a treatment for pain and fatigue, among other conditions, to be given a larger opportunity is certainly a winning situation for all involved."

In order to hit McConnell's target of 120 days, there's some work still left to be completed.

On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture will mark up the provision of the spending report. Next, the Appropriations Committee will receive it two days later. Finally, The FDA would need to submit a report to the committee within 90 days, which opens up the possibility of a new policy. Lastly, if the new enforcement guidelines are established, they would continue to be implemented until the regulatory process is finalized by the FDA.

In support of Mitch McConnell’s proposal, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley praised the bill during the subcommittee meeting last Thursday, with Merkley specifically mentioning the revenue that hemp will bring to his state alone. “You might note that this year in Oregon, the hemp industry may well be a billion-dollar crop, and that is an incredible addition to income for our agricultural community,” he said.

Only time will tell where McConnell's proposal and timeline goes, but it is a big day for the CBD industry as a whole to have such support.