How the DEA's Move Against CBD May Not Even Be LEGAL!

The DEA’s attempt to criminalize the status of cannabidiol (CBD) in December 2016 threw the cannabis industry into an uproar. Hundreds of thousands of patients around the country rely on non-intoxicating CBD products to manage pain, inflammation, seizures, and other medical conditions. Hemp-derived CBD oil was, and continues to be, sold openly in American markets. I don't particularly remember there being a lot of light shed on this bull when it occurred, so I am digging deep and trying to understand EXACTLY what happened.

The DEA’s notice in the Federal Register on that day, however, sent that entire industry sector into turmoil. The supposed rule creates “unfair barriers for companies with cannabidiol in their products,” said Mark Malone, executive director of the Cannabis Business Alliance. “Patients will be forced to find cannabidiol from the unregulated black market.” Leah Heise, CEO of Women Grow, said the rule “has the potential to inflict substantial harm to a legitimate industry that has been operating legally worldwide for over a decade.” I mean, God FORBID our citizens find an alternative to deadly pain killers and a long road of pain without relief. We have plenty to say about that era of the CBD-bashing medical controversy. But we will save that lil nugget for a rainy day. ;)

Cloaked in the guise of a bureaucratic technicality, DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg made an aggressive bid to wrap CBD into the Controlled Substances Act as a federally illegal Schedule I drug. Am I the only one laughing out loud and smacking my knee? COME ON AMERICA - WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS.

So here's the tea. This is what happened, if you didn't catch the article in 2017.

The DEA introduced a new drug code for “marijuana extracts.” In the course of doing so, Rosenberg paused to consider the question of non-intoxicating cannabidiol (CBD). Rosenberg made it clear that the DEA considers all CBD to be illegal simply because it’s derived from a plant of the genus Cannabis.

Over a 48 hour span, attorneys and legal scholars (and entrepreneur/activists like Harborside Health founder Steve DeAngelo, below) have pushed back with force. Many are arguing that the DEA’s move is a clear instance of illegal agency overreach. It’s a move that the same agency tried 17 years ago, in fact. And that attempt was ultimately slapped down by federal courts.​ They attempted to put down hempseed oil in 2001.

What I loved was Steve Deangelo's Tweet thereafter : "DEA once again oversteps it's authority. Well, knock me over with a feather! Who would ever have expected tha