West Virginia lawmakers have clarified language in a bill adding substances to the drug schedule that would allow the sale, distribution, and prescription of hemp-derived CBD oils, according to a Herald-Dispatch report. The amendment differentiates between CBD products derived from hemp and CBD derived from cannabis plants containing more than the .3 percent THC allowable under federal law.
The changes by the Senate Judiciary Committee were made after the Director of the West Virginia Hemp Industries Association Morgan Leach said the original version would cause confusion regarding CBD classifications.
Leach indicated that making the “cash crop” available will help the state become “a catalyst for entrepreneurship and innovation.”
“This revision protects West Virginia hemp farmers’ ability to cultivate and process hemp for CBD. This is one of our biggest revenue streams that will help make our farmers more money as they begin to develop this crop in West Virginia,” Leach said in the report. “Our goals are to (build) industries around food products, dietary supplements, cosmetics and topicals, paper, textiles, bio-plastics, advanced battery technologies and much more.”
Democratic state Sen. Bob Beach, whose wife teaches an industrial hemp course at Pierpont Community and Technical College, said lawmakers are still undergoing an “education process” with regard to hemp.
“Any time you can clarify sections of code, it’s a positive step in the right direction with any piece of legislation,” Beach said. “In this particular case, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
The measure has been sent to the Senate with a “do-pass” recommendation.
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