Rep. Comer (R-KY) Requests Hearing On CBD Regulations

Our Congressional allies are working hard on behalf of US!

Longtime hemp champion and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Rep. James Comer (R) is calling for his committee to hold a hearing to examine the failure of the FDA to develop a regulatory regime to oversee the sale of hemp-derived extracts such as cannabidiol (CBD). Rep. Comer has asked the committee Chiarwoman, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), for a hearing that would engage the FDA to explain how it plans to resolve the serious issue of mislabeled CBD products.

“We write to request that the Committee on Oversight and Reform hold a hearing to examine the failure of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop a regulatory regime that effectively oversees the sale of hemp-derived extracts such as cannabidiol (CBD). Across the United States, inauthentic products are sold under the likeness of legal hemp but are improperly labeled, contaminated with harmful chemicals, and marketed to children. We must hear directly from the FDA to ensure the agency has a plan to institute a regulatory solution that can effectively monitor the sale of hemp products and protect the health of children.”

Read the full letter request.

We are grateful to Rep. Comer for stepping up and speaking out on the urgency of this issue, and for leveraging his position as ranking member of Committee on Oversight and Reform to help us gain some traction on legislation that would regulate CBD now.

Like Rep. Comer, many in Congress have had enough. HR 841, which would require the FDA to regulate hemp extracts like CBD as dietary supplements, already features 40 co-sponsors, with 26 Democrats and 14 Republicans. HR 6134, recently introduced by a bi-partisan coalition, would extend regulatory protection for CBD in food and beverages.

Unfortunately, progress of these bills is waning without the prospect of a Congressional hearing that would give farmers, consumers, and small businesses a chance to testify to the urgent need for regulation, and for FDA to explain its inaction.

We support and stand alongside Rep. Comer urging Rep. Maloney to schedule a committee hearing on hemp and CBD to accelerate the process of securing regulation of these popular products. As Rep. Comer states in the letter: “By doing so, we will empower good-faithed hemp farmers and protect American consumers— especially children—from intoxicating cannabis.”

How can you help? Contact your members of Congress and ask them to cosponsor HR 841 and HR 6134 using the online form available at regulateCBDnow.com!