Because CBD comes from the non-psychoactive parts of the plant, DEA cannot consider ‘marijuana extracts’ an excuse for Schedule 1 classification .
“The DEA doesn’t have the authority to make a law and schedule controlled substances without an act of Congress.”
On Jan. 13, 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is intending to classify CBD as a Schedule 1 drug–right up there on the same level as heroin, MDMA, and LSD.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is creating a new Administration Controlled Substances Code Number for “Marihuana Extract.” This code number will allow DEA and DEA-registered entities to track quantities of this material separately from quantities of marihuana. This, in turn, will aid in complying with relevant treaty provisions.
Anyone who knows a bit about medicinal marijuana and CBD, will be struck by the absurdity of such a categorization. Reminder: CBD has no psychoactive properties whatsoever.
“The DEA doesn’t have the authority to make a law and schedule controlled substances without an act of congress,” argues Robert Hoban, managing partner at the Hoban Law Group. The Denver firm has represented various hemp and marijuana businesses since 2008, many of which have told Hoban and his partners that they would be plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
The DEA has exceeded its authority in the past and now that 28 states allow medical marijuana, “the industry is up for the challenge of litigation against any government agency that operates contrary to prevailing law and enforcement policies,” his firm wrote in a statement. Meanwhile, Hoban Law Group also reminds us that “the DEA has sought to unilaterally create laws before and has lost when challenged.”
“The DEA’s position is rife with incoherent interpretation of regulation and blatant disregard for recent rulings of the courts,” adds Mary Jane, an insider who wished not to use her real name. “The most knowledgeable attorneys and experts on the subject are dissecting this. Unless we have fallen to become a nation that simply does not abide the rule of law under any circumstance, the courts will not uphold this odd maneuver.”
Mary Jane adds: “Federal courts have already spoken and stated that the DEA can NOT interfere with the Federal Farm Bill, which was passed in 2014. The only concern is if the new president and cabinet appointments no longer care about the law, courts, or legal precedent.”
The DEA has authority over marijuana, which is the common way of referring to cannabis strains that contain over 0.3 percent THC, explains Elizabeth Moriarity, Clinical Herbalist & Formulator and owner of HERBOLOGIE. The DEA, however, does not have authority over industrialized hemp, which is the common reference to cannabis strains that contain less than 0.3 percent THC and are non-psychoactive.
“As a result, nationally distributed products contains cannabidiol (CBD) cannot be made with cannabidiol from marijuana,” says Moriarity, who is also the formulator behind HoneyColony’s Superior Cannabinoid oil.
“Instead, nationally distributed products containing CBD must be made using extracts from hemp. The DEA does not have the authority to re-classify this non-psychoactive phytocompound extracted from hemp.”
Cherie Arnold, company CEO of MediQI Energetics agrees that this new classification is only on the marijuana side of things. “Hemp is still OK–and you will note that we refer to our hemp as phytonutrient hemp extract.”
To reiterate, the DEA is authorized only to regulate controlled substances and hemp does not fall into that legal category.
Weeding Out The Truth
DEA representative Russell Baer recently told VICE News that the new code is simply an internal accounting mechanism for us. “The purpose is to drill down and get more accurate information about research that’s being conducted with CBD in particular.”
Richard Rose, Executive Director of the Medicinal Hemp Association also shrugs the code off as harmless. “This recent DEA action regarding CBD was a banal, trivial administrative harmonization to comply with a 55-year-old treaty, and applies ONLY to DEA licensees or about 0.1 percent of the industry.”
But what if this latest move is also Big Pharma way of keeping tabs on the competition, making it exceedingly hard for dietary supplements and independent companies?
Let’s remember that this is not a novel move. The history of Big Pharma Vs. The People has a seasonal predictability. The threat of criminalizing CBD is part of an old tradition in which the agencies follow the drum beat of the pharmaceutical industry. This permits Big Pharma to hijack medicinal solutions for patenting, as witnessed by the story of GW Pharmaceuticals. Another tactic is often to discredit functional solutions that cannot be patented, to thwart competition (example being colloidal silver, a natural antimicrobial that could undermine the antibiotics industry).
Many assert that the real purpose of controlling the distribution of medicinal solutions is to make profits, by the same industry that also fleshes out dangerous substances like opiates and amphetamines through “legal” prescriptions, the real Schedule 1 products.
So while some in the CBD hemp world stand confident, others aren’t so positive that this new code wont affect hemp, given the past track record and the future United States Of Trump.
Just look at the ambiguous wording of the new Marihuana Extract code which leaves room for much interpretation:
Meaning an extract containing one or more cannabinoids that has been derived from any plant of the genus Cannabis, other than the separated resin (whether crude or purified) obtained from the plant.
What does “any plant” mean? It’s not like the hypocrisy and bullying will go away, unless institutions are systematically confronted by the people, for the people. In short, the duty rests on us not to accept these type of declarations outright, and to question them in every legitimate way.
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We’re dedicated to bringing you this potent and safe and non-psychoactive plant medicine. Our latest reserves are going fast as we near the DEA’s purported effective date. Reserve here.
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