Is CBD Oil Legal In All 50 States?
Is CBD Oil Legal In All 50 States?
Is CBD oil legal in all 50 states? Do I have anything to worry about by ordering any, taking it, or possessing it in my house or person?
Yes it is! CBD oil is perfectly legal in all 50 states. A marijuana tincture, however, is not, and we'll explain the difference between the two and why it matters in a moment. Bear in mind, of course, that this isn't legal advice and for legal advice, you should consult an attorney.
With that said, let's talk about CBD oil and the states
Is CBD Oil Legal In All 50 States?
Yes, CBD oil is, in fact, legal in all 50 states in the typical forms you find it in and for typical use. No states currently outlaw CBD oil, except in certain circumstances (which we'll get to) and you can order it, use it, and possess it so long as the CBD oil you have meets specific criteria specified by federal law.
What paved the way for hemp products such as CBD oil to finally be legal was the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill. The "farm bill" is a quinquennial (every five years - don't worry; we had to look it up too!) bill regulating the farming industry, so there will be another one in a few years here.
Anyhow, the 2018 farm bill decriminalized hemp and all hemp products so long as they contained no more than 0.3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by weight. Since that includes hemp oil and therefore hemp CBD products, and indeed any CBD products containing that amount or less of THC, that made CBD oil legal as far as the federal government was concerned
.The various states have not tightened their regulations any further, so any private citizen may purchase CBD oil for their own personal use, for any reason with a couple of exceptions.
CBD Oil Vs Cannabis Tincture
However, it's important to distinguish the difference between CBD oil vs a cannabis and/or marijuana tincture, which are totally different products but can be conflated through use of colloquial language.
Here's the difference:
CBD oil is literally the suspension of pure CBD particles (typically in the form of a powder) in a food-grade oil. That's literally it. Imagine whisking salt, pepper and herbs in olive oil to make salad dressing; that's literally the process that's used to make a lot of CBD oil.
However, a cannabis or marijuana tincture is a horse of a different color. In that case, an extract from actual marijuana plants, though sometimes it's a blend of marijuana and hemp - is suspended in fluid, sometimes oil and sometimes in alcohol. The resulting liquid has much more than a trace THC content and that is entirely on purpose. Ingesting the THC is literally the point.
The difference, of course, is that CBD and hemp and CBD products have been de-scheduled by the FDA, meaning they are totally legal to manufacture, sell, buy, consume and possess. Marijuana, on the other hand, is still prohibited by federal law and by most US states.
There's a difference between these two products and, of course, it's a good thing to know what that difference is
What CBD Laws There Are
However, there are a few minor stipulations by the federal government and by a handful of US states regarding CBD products.
First, CBD products cannot be marketed nor sold as medicine, as the FDA has only approved the use of CBD - by prescription - for two specific types of childhood epilepsy. Any additional medical benefits or uses have not been established yet by way of the clinical trial process.
CBD also cannot be added to food, as the FDA has also not approved it for use in food products like gummies or beverages as of yet. Granted, that only covers interstate commerce; if a food or beverage company wanted to make CBD treats or CBD drinks and only sell them in one state, that would be permissible so long as they met state food production guidelines.
With that said, a handful of states, including California, New York and Louisiana, currently prohibit adding CBD to food products of any kind, so residents of those states cannot have them.
Outside of those restrictions, however...CBD oil is perfectly legal in all 50 states.