Enactment of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump today, marks the beginning of tectonic shifts in the global market for industrial hemp. Here’s a selection of resources that summarize the latest developments and offer some insight into what it all means for the industry going forward. – ed.
What does the Farm Bill do?
Summary: Two-page analysis of hemp provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill, indexed with citations relevant to industrial hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill (807p).
Source: U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a coalition of more than 60 hemp companies and major national grassroots organizations.
Outlook for CBD under the U.S. Farm Bill
Summary: Overview analysis with chart of Top 5 Hemp-derived CBD companies
Highlight: “The Farm Bill would help to create a more ‘laissez-faire’ open market that would enable more market entrants, operating under softer federal regulation.”
Source: SmallCaps Australia, analysts who cover penny stocks companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in the mining, resources, biotech, pharmaceutical, technology, and oil & gas sectors.
Reading those wildly differing CBD projections in the U.S.
Summary: With projections for the growth of the U.S. CBD market diverging wildly, what’s an investor to do?
Highlight: “Brightfield Group, recently told Rolling Stone it expects U.S. CBD sales to hit $22 billion by 2022. Other forecasters beg to differ.”
Source: HempToday.net
Will Hemp-Derived CBD Be Fully Legal with Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill?
Summary: In-depth legal analysis with focus on CBD post Farm Bill enactment.
Highlight: “Though not as sexy as the CSA, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FTCA) very likely presents the greater long-term problem for the CBD industry because there are few available protections to the legal risks presented by the FTCA.”
Source: National Law Review (USA), online journal covering legal trends, news and analysis, regulatory developments and legislation since 1888.
Can the FDA really shut down the CBD market?
Summary: While the 2018 Farm Bill will remove hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and thus remove the Drug Enforcement Agency from any regulatory action around hemp or CBD, the FDA remains the federal regulatory authority in charge of the market.
Highlight: “FDA could in its discretion allow the two to be co-marketed as both supplements or food and as a drug, but that requires an exercise of FDA discretion that they have not done.”
Source: New Hope Network, analysts, consultants and event organizers in the health & lifestyle products industry.
How the 2018 Farm Bill addresses top hemp industry challenges
Summary: Challenges such as finding processors or accessing banking services will be directly addressed by the 2018 Farm Bill. (chart)
Highlight: “While the new provisions allow states to adopt their own plans for regulating hemp, no state can prohibit the transport of hemp across its lines,”
Source: Hemp Industry Daily
Hemp companies poised to list in U.S.
Summary: Cannabis companies make moves in anticipation of Farm Bill’s enactment. Passage of the farm bill would potentially open major U.S. exchanges like the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange to hemp firms.
Highlight: “We feel that with the farm bill passing, it opens up the pathway to a formal listing on a U.S. exchange like Nasdaq.”
Source: Bloomberg
