Is CBD Legal in 2019

Is CBD Illegal?

Many manufacturers and sellers of CBD-infused products proclaim CBD to be legal in all 50 states. Whether or not this is true depends on how one interprets the state’s cannabis laws.

Is CBD still illegal in any states? In some states there are regulatory and law enforcement officials who interpret the state’s laws to mean that the possession of CBD oil and other products containing CBD is prohibited. In states such as Florida, Ohio, Tennessee and others, shops have been raided for selling CBD products and people have been arrested, spent time in a jail cell, and fined thousands of dollars for the possessing them. In all cases, however, this interpretation is being either challenged in court or lawmakers in the state are working to correct the situation.

For example, in Arizona, if you go by technical definitions outlined in state laws, all cannabis oils are prohibited. In Ohio, state laws don’t differentiate between marijuana and hemp. Officials there claim that you can only buy CBD at a medical marijuana dispensary and only if you have a medical recommendation. And in California, authorities there claimed that CBD may not be legally added to food products.

In almost all cases, there are some shops that sell CBD in defiance of state officials. The claim is that CBD extract is a legal food product just like hemp seed oil. Are they correct? Yes and no.

Yes, hemp extract is a legal food product. However it can easily be argued that refined cannabinoid-rich hemp extracts and pure CBD isolate have no nutritional value and are not food. Meanwhile, the FDA says calling CBD products health supplements is prohibited.

But wait a minute. Didn’t the federal government just legalize hemp and CBD derived from hemp and move them from DEA’s schedule of prohibited substances from Schedule I to Schedule IV? Yes! This is a fantastic step toward putting some sense into federal cannabis laws, but it still doesn’t legalize CBD across the board. What the new law does do is it puts the regulation of hemp into the hands of individual states. It’s up to each state to decide how hemp and its derivatives should be regulated. It is conceivable that a state could still declare the manufacturer, sale, and possession of CBD oil and CBD isolate to be prohibited.

All this being said, of the potentially millions of people who have purchased CBD only a tiny spec of a percent of them have had any trouble purchasing CBD oil (you can buy CBD oil online) or have been detained or fined for possessing CBD products.

The final answer is that you need to check with the state in which you reside to see what laws pertain to CBD oil and CBD isolate and how law enforcement officials in the state interpret those laws.

CBD Guides By State

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top