IT’S BEEN A HELL of a month in the canna world.
It started on March 15, when the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) shocked a room full of 500-plus cannabis-business owners at an Oregon Cannabis Association meeting. Suddenly, making and selling extracts was illegal. That seems to be all sorted out—see my colleague Vince Sliwoski’s Ask a Pot Lawyer column.
But as soon as the dust settled on that, Facebook and other stellar sources of dependable and non-alarmist information began exploding with the news that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had “outlawed” cannabidiol (CBD).
Online shrieking and hysterical ranting commenced in full force. “THE FDA IS GOING TO OUTLAW CBD!” wrote one thoughtful and well-informed person in my feed. “BIG PHARMA IS GOING TO OWN ALL CANNABIS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR REVOLUTION!” posted another.
It was unclear if said revolution would involve multiple angry-face emojis and “Share If You Like” posts, much like our forefathers battled the tyrant King George III. (“Thomas Jefferson and 55 other founding fathers suggest you like the page ‘We the People.'”)
So for the second time in as many weeks, let’s take a collective calming breath and do something all too rare: read and comprehend the facts of an issue.
Continue reading this week’s Cannabuzz!
