Farm Bill 2018: Hemp is now legal in the United States!

Here it is: Donald Trump put his signature to the Farm Bill 2018, which, among other things, legalizes hemp at federal level. In concrete terms, hemp is removed from the Schedule 1 from the list of controlled substances. Hemp cultivation will be legal from January 1, with a few details still to be worked out on CBD.

A boon for American agriculture

This measure sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell received bipartisan support in a common concern to develop American agriculture. It puts an end to decades of prohibition during which hemp cultivation was illegal - except in certain states and in a research setting thanks to a provision included in the 2014 Farm Bill. Despite this illegality, the market for hemp-derived products is booming. Whole Foods Market, an organic food retailer has placed hemp in its top 10 consumption trends for 2019. The CBD market is estimated at 22 billion by 2022.

Until now, the country has imported the raw material to meet its domestic demand for hemp. It was to put an end to this contradiction and the commercial dependence it entailed, particularly with regard to China, the world's leading hemp producer, that the United States decided to open up its agriculture to hemp production. Moreover, this legalization is presented as a source of additional income for American farmers, whose ranks, surprisingly (or not), some politicians are rushing to join. The Chairman of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, for example, said announced plans to start growing hemp.

The status of CBD

One thing is certain: hemp cultivation has been legalized. However, the status of hemp-derived products is still in doubt. John Hudak of the Brookings Institute, a think tank specializing in the social sciences, explains One of the great myths surrounding the Farm Bill is that cannabidiol (CBD) has been legalized. The Farm Bill ensures that any cannabinoid derived from hemp will be legal, if and only if the hemp is produced in a manner consistent with the Farm Bill, federal regulations, state regulations and by a licensed producer. All cannabinoids produced in any other context remain classified as schedule 1 under federal law and are therefore illegal».

In a press release which follows Trump's signature, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) then clarified that it remains «illegal to engage in interstate commerce of food containing CBD or THC». One of the points emphasized by Gottlieb, the federal agency's director, is the fact that, because THC and CBD are «active ingredients of FDA-approved drugs», However, it is still illegal to include them in food. A law stipulates that it is illegal to sell the active ingredients of medicines as food supplements.

The FDA has announced, however, that it will identify «legal avenues for the marketing» of hemp-derived products, and has already announced that it has completed its evaluation of «hulled hemp seeds, proteins and oils derived from hemp seeds» and determined that these products are «generally recognized as safe»: «these products may be legally sold in food as dietary supplements without specific approval». The agency points out, however, that other marketing criteria must be respected, such as the prohibition on making therapeutic claims.

A risk for France

Until now, France was the 3rd largest hemp producer in the world, and the 1st in Europe. With the industrial capacity of the United States and the financial resources of the cannabis industry, it won't be long before the USA joins the leading trio. Their main competitive advantage will be that they allow the use of hemp flower, whereas France, flouting European regulations, continues to treat its hemp growers like drug dealers if they touch it. Will Bercy and Agriculture wake up before the French agricultural sector, already in a sorry state, is shrivelled by massive imports of American hemp and CBD? Answer in 2019.