November 2025 Update

Congress recently passed the bill to reopen the government. In that bill, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) added a provision with a stricter definition of hemp, to ban  impairing cannabinoids like delta-8 THC and THCP. But the bill also adversely affects full-spectrum CBD products becasue it limits the total amount of THC to no more than 0.4 milligrams per container, regardless of serving size or form. There is no medical reason to limit the THC to this amount and this will adversely affects access to many of the CBD medicines we recommend.

Although the bill was signed by the president, this restriction will not go into affect until November 2026 and until then, your low THC medicines are legal.  It is unfortunate that this will affect patient’s access to cannabis medicine that contains less than 0.3% THC but I encourage my patients to continue to use these low THC products that have been effective in alleviating a multitude of medical conditions.

Please keep in mind that these cannabis medicines have a long shelf life so medicines that you acquie now and until November 2026 will be effective for approximately two years.  It is my hope that this new restriction will serve as an impetus to state-licensed dispensaries to stock more low-THC medicines that patients need. Please email me with any questions or concerns that you may have.

January 2020

With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill which makes hemp legal at the federal level, it’s even more confusing whether your CBD oil is legal or not. Since the bill makes hemp and hemp products legal at the federal level, the DEA has descheduled cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating, non-addicting, compound with anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxing, anxiolytic, as well as other medical benefits. In addition, the FDA has approved Epidiolex (CBD) for the treatment of seizures in patients with Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut. So now we have three FDA approved drugs available in the US that consist of single ingredients – CBD (Epidiolex) and THC (Marinol, Cesamet,), that are Schedule 5 and Schedule 3, respectively, yet if they are found in the cannabis plant, they are still Schedule l.  It seems that the FDA is reserving reprimand for companies that produce hemp oil with CBD  that make medical claims not supported by clinical trials or for infusing it into food and/or beverages.

I want to assure all of my patients that the hemp products I recommend are derived from cannabis plants that produces less than 0.3% THC and in some cases have zero THC and by definition, that is hemp. And also be assured that the industrial hemp used to produce these oils is grown legally under the The Federal Farm Bill of 2018 or is imported legally from abroad.