A series of police raids in North Dakota has set the stage for a courtroom showdown regarding the legal status of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-intoxicating cannabis component with significant medical properties. Thus far, it’s not going well for purveyors of the claim that hemp-derived CBD is legal in all 50 U.S. states.

In October 2017, Northwest District Judge Robin Schmidt refused to dismiss drug trafficking charges against Falesteni Abuhamda, the owner of two North Dakota tobacco stores, which allegedly sold products containing CBD with very little or no psychoactive THC [tetrahydrocannabinol]. Abuhamda’s attorney argued that the CBD products were legal because the CBD oil was extracted from the stalk of industrial hemp.

But a forensic scientist with the state’s crime lab easily debunked this argument by stating the obvious: CBD is not found in any appreciable amount in hemp stalk. Rather it exudes from the resinous flowers and leaves of the cannabis plant. And, therefore, CBD is forbidden under the Controlled Substances Act, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which defers to the DEA on cannabis-related matters, considers CBD to be an experimental pharmaceutical undergoing evaluation. In early November, the FDA sent letters to several companies selling hemp-derived CBD products warning that they were violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Acts.

This was the third time in recent years that the FDA has issued warnings to CBD manufacturers and retailers, which market hemp-derived CBD products as nutraceuticals or food supplements. The most recent round of FDA warning letters did not involve false statements about the source of the CBD extracts. Instead, the agency objected to unsubstantiated medical claims allegedly made by four CBD oil producers:

Greenroads Health, Natural Alchemist, That’s Natural! Marketing and Consulting, and last but not least, the Stanley Brothers.

Some of these unsubstantiated claims, according to the FDA, included patient testimonials and assertions that CBD “may be effective in treating tumors from cancer” and other diseases. Thus far, however, there have been no FDA-approved clinical trials that might validate preclinical studies and anecdotal accounts of CBD’s anti-cancer properties.

Today one can easily purchase unregulated CBD products online and at some supermarkets and storefronts across the nation. For the most part, it’s a crapshoot for consumers: A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association disclosed that only 31 percent of 84 lab-tested hemp-derived CBD products contained the amount of CBD indicated on the label. And who knows what else was in some of these products.

SPORADIC RAIDS

While CBD currently seems to be a low priority for federal law enforcement agencies, in recent months there have been sporadic local police raids against CBD retailers in several states besides North Dakota, including (but not limited to):

~ Indiana. In April 2017, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill allowing people with treatment-resistant epilepsy who register with the state to possess CBD products that contain less than 0.3 percent THC. Shortly thereafter, a law enforcement crackdown on CBD retailers resulted in the seizure of more than 3000 CBD products from about 60 stores throughout the Hoosier State. In August, Indiana’s Alcohol and Tobacco Commission declared a moratorium on CBD raids “unless the products clearly violate Indiana law.” Since the moratorium announcement, Indiana excise police have continued to issue citations to stores selling CBD.

~ Missouri. Vince Sanders, owner of American Shaman, a Kansas City-based wholesaler, supplied CBD products to several stores in Missouri and Kansas. He says his products are legal because they are made from industrial hemp and contain hardly any THC. But Missouri law only allows for low-THC cannabis oil to be sold by manufacturers that are licensed by the state health department, which is not the case for American Shaman.

~ Kansas. Kansas is a zero-tolerance state when it comes to THC – hardly any is too much in Kansas. Eddie Smith, owner of Into The Mystic, was surprised when police officers showed up at his alternative medicine store in Mission, Kansas, in May 2017 and confiscated an array of hemp-derived CBD products. During a previous visit, an undercover cop purchased some CBD from Smith’s store. A 22-year-old U.S. Army veteran, Smith protested that he had been told “with 100 percent certainty that [CBD] is totally legal in all 50 states.”

~ Wisconsin. In May 2017, police raided several gas stations in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which sold CBD products. A month later, police busted two storefronts in Franklin, Wisconsin, for retailing CBD-infused gummies that contained traces of THC. The store owners said that they had been assured by the wholesale CBD vendor that the products were legal to sell and possess. But Wisconsin law stipulates that CBD can only be dispensed by a pharmacist or physician – not a gas station – to a patient who has been certified to possess cannabidiol for treating a specific medical condition.

~ Ohio. In August 2017, police returned 18 bottles of hemp-derived CBD to Poor Boys Smoke Shop in Marysville, Ohio, after a Union County prosecutor declined to press charges stemming from a law enforcement raid two years earlier. Medical marijuana is technically legal in Ohio, but corrupt licensing procedures have stymied patient access to cannabis and CBD-rich products.

~ Nebraska. In September 2017, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson declared that CBD sales in the Cornhusker State are flat-out illegal. But under state law, the University of Nebraska Medical Center has the authority to distribute CBD to certified patients who participate in an experimental research program. CBD commerce outside of the university program is strictly forbidden. “To date no drug products containing CBD have received FDA approval,” Peterson noted.

~ Massachusetts. Two detectives visited Jay’s Smoke Shop in Taunton, Mass., to inform the proprietor that it was not okay to sell CBD products at his store, even though residents in the Bay State had voted to legalize cannabis both for medical and adult use. It’s currently legal to possess and use cannabis, including CBD-rich products, in Massachusetts, but not in public or while driving a vehicle. Storefront sales won’t be authorized until 2018 at the earliest.