As reported back in August in this space, the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) recommended that “preparations considered to be pure CBD should not be scheduled within the International Drug Control Conventions.” Last week, the news got even better. In this January 24, 2019 letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, the WHO’s ECDD took a further step. They now recommend that a footnote be added to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs that reads: “Preparations containing predominantly cannabidiol and not more than 0.2 percent of delta-9-tertahydrocannabinol are not under international control.” The world’s leading health authority believes that CBD should not be considered a controlled substance – and its new definition now sweeps in the vast majority of hemp-derived CBD products in the marketplace. There are still further steps to be taken before this recommendation becomes a black-and-white matter of international law. But as our FDA counsel, Amin Talati Upadhye suggests, “WHO’s recommendation is another positive development for CBD. It clarifies and confirms that pure CBD should not be scheduled under the international conventions.” Stay tuned to this space for further developments.