Dude, where’s my regulatory framework? As CBD gains popularity, Washington struggles to keep up

Online reviews proclaim CBD (Cannabidiol) a “life changer,” “the best thing ever,” and “truly incredible.” It’s a $390 million industry, expected to grow to at least $1.3 billion by 2022. Montel Williams has his own designer line of CBD products; so do Tommy Chong and Mike Tyson.

Despite the rave reviews, CBD is giving Washington a major headache. The Food and Drug Administration has different rules for regulating medicines and dietary supplements like vitamins — and it isn’t perfectly clear yet which category CBD, or cannabidiol, an extract of cannabis used as a home remedy for everything from anxiety to back pain, falls into. Congress, too, has struggled. Lawmakers passed a bill last year that officially legalized hemp, the plant from which CBD is extracted, but left the FDA with little guidance on how to regulate CBD.

This isn’t the typical regulatory morass story, either. The FDA is often criticized for a “slow and burdensome approval process” that keeps promising cures from patients in need, but when it comes to CBD, lawmakers, consumer advocates, and even CBD manufacturers are unified: They want more regulation, and fast.

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