House Oversight Committee Meeting with FDA Commissioner Califf Recap

During a 4+ hour hearing yesterday, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf appeared before the House Oversight Committee to address a variety of topics. While the majority of the session focused on matters unrelated to our interests, hemp up several times, in big fashion, demonstrating Congress’ frustration with the agency’s refusal to take concrete steps to regulate hemp products.

The lead questioner, and committee chairman, Representative James Comer (R-KY) – who has been a hemp champion for over a decade — posed this important question: “The FDA’s refusal to regulate hemp products is creating significant confusion in the market and resulting in products with intoxicants that can be dangerous to Americans who use these products. It has also halted business trying in good faith to enter the market while bad actors continue to thrive.”

When he asked Califf what he expects to happen with CBD regulations over the next year, Califf responded: “It’s Congress’s decision to make, so we would really look forward to work with you all as quickly as possible to come up with a regulatory pathway that you think is reasonable and enables us to take action.”

Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL) also jumped into the fray, ask if the FDA should be more involved in monitoring CBD. Commissioner Califf responded: “We very much would like Congress to establish a regulatory pathway for CBD“. Califf later added: “We’d like to see a regulatory pathway, but as we talked earlier, the FDA is a referee and we need a rulebook, and you guys write the rulebook.”

Below you will find the full hearing, as well as video hemp-related Q&A involving Chairman Comer, Rep. Palmer, and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), as well as excellent coverage by Marijuana Moment.