CBD Flower Banned Under New York Hemp Industry Draft Regulations

New hemp regulations proposed in New York would ban the sale of CBD flower while requiring licensing for all segments of the supply chain regulated by the health and agriculture departments.

The proposal includes seed-to-sale tracking requirements, potency and safety standards, random testing at all stages of production, and regulations for CBD food and drink infusions. The regulations would not allow CBD-infused alcohol or transdermal patches.

The rules, authored by the Health Department, would impose application fees between $500 and $1,000 for processors along with license fees between $2,000 to $4,500 depending on whether the licensee will extract CBD in addition to product manufacturing. Retailers would have to pay a $300 license fee for each location, according to the draft rules.

In the proposal, the Health Department says state regulations are needed since the Food and Drug Administration “is just beginning the rulemaking process” and “therefore, there are currently no federal standards for cannabinoid hemp processors or cannabinoid hemp retailers.” The rules would require cannabinoid processors in the state meet third-party good manufacturing practices within six months of application approval.

“Due to the confusion of the regulatory status of cannabinoid hemp products at the federal level, products have been left in an unregulated status. These regulations are intended to bring cannabinoid hemp products on par with other standards already developed in similar industries and is not meant to disadvantage small businesses. Many operators in the hemp industry are looking for regulations to legitimatize and standardize the neophyte industry.” – New York State Health Department in the draft rules

The Health Department indicates in the document that the proposed regulations include recommendations from the New York Cannabis Grower and Processor Association and other, unnamed, industry stakeholders.

Allan Gandelman, president of the association, told the Observer-Dispatch that he shares “in the frustration of [NYCGPA] members and the hundreds of growers throughout the state who have spent significant resources in harvesting their crop…that hemp flower will not be allowed for sale.”

The rules, which have yet to be adopted, come just about two months after state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said the state would not submit an industrial hemp plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 2021 growing season due to “unrealistic” federal regulations.