Hemp Products to be Regulated Like Food in Colorado
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap] new Colorado law stipulates that hemp products will be regulated the same way food ingredients are regulated.
Last week, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed House Bill 1295, which formalizes an existing state policy that applies food manufacturing guidelines to products such as hemp oil-infused coffees and hemp-derived extracts that are rich in cannabidiol. The provisions of HB-1295 include language that would prohibit a company with an FDA-approved pharmaceutical from preventing or restricting the production, sale or distribution of naturally occurring CBD extracts.
The bill was viewed as a novel move to protect the state’s burgeoning industrial hemp industry. Colorado produces more than 40 percent of hemp in the U.S., double the amount of what other states produce.
“Nationally, we simply don’t have any regulatory structure in place,” said Andrew Aamot, co-founder of Strava Craft Coffee, a Denver-based coffee company that launched a line of hemp oil-infused beans and brews. “As we progress toward greater acceptance on the national level, I think Colorado companies are uniquely positioned to do things right at the very beginning.”
The premise for HB-1295 has been in the works for two years, but hemp advocates were initially met with opposition by state regulators. State officials were concerned with folding the language into Colorado’s Pure Food and Drug Act and jeopardizing federal funding, as well as putting Colorado and it’s businesses at risk for federal intervention.
Earlier this year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the Hemp Farming Act 2018, which would remove hemp from regulation as a controlled substance.
