July 1 marked the start of a ban on CBD products approved by New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio.
Amid regulatory confusions at the federal level, CBD in food and drink products is among the most contentious issues. Still, the move to send in city health inspectors and police to shut down the sale of CBD drinks and foods stands in contrast to New York’s state legislation to clarify regulations and best practices for CBD to make selling the products easier and safer. [1] [3]
The new rules from Albany feature a number of new requirements for the manufacture and sale of CBD products, including laboratory testing and product labelling requirements. [1]
Though you can read on the Nothing But Hemp blog about how measure like these are often taken up without the input or expertise of those within the hemp industry and are therefore bound to bring negative outcomes, the intention is to make CBD markets flourish. [2]
Banning CBD outright, like in New York City, is a rather different and more destructive tact.
New Yorkers can find within their city limits some of the most cutting edge culinary and product innovations, brought on not only from its status as a cultural hub and collection center of culture but also from its thriving marketplaces.
Bartenders and mixologists have used CBD within their cocktails to innovate and show off the potential benefits of the cannabis compound, which people use for chronic pain, anxiety and other conditions without the high associated with marijuana. [2]
Now, they won’t be able to get the best out of their talents and recipes. That also means a lot of lost revenue.
In January, multiple sources reported that investors projected that CBD in food and beverages would be one of the most promising trends of 2019. [5] Apparently DeBlasio and others in the New York City didn’t get the memo.
Additionally, high-profile figures within the city’s government reacted loudly when state regulator and health inspectors made a round of seizures and crack downs within the city over the course of February.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Members Mark Levine and Robert Holden co-authored a letter to the health commissioner in March in which they condemned “the opaque nature of the process by which the Department came to this seemingly abrupt policy shift.” [5]
If New Yorkers want to secure their future in the CBD market and their freedom to buy the products they want, they need to tell their government they have a right to buy CBD in its various forms.
Sources