Utah’s Bureau of Investigation and Department of Health is probing retail CBD sales in the state and has seized products from businesses throughout the state, according to a Salt Lake Tribune report. Department of Public Safety Spokesman Lt. Todd Royce indicated retailers are required to have Health Department permission to sell CBD products.
“It’s not legal. Recreational use CBD never has been legal, and is not currently legal.” – Lt. Todd Royce to the Tribune.
Ed Hendershot, the owner of an antique shop in Heber City which sold CBD products, said within two months of selling CBD products they accounted for two-thirds of his business; however, a representative for the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing seized about $400 worth of products – without a warrant – and gave him an administrative subpoena telling him he was selling an illegal product.
Republican State Rep. Brad Daw told the Tribune that, under state law, only people with an epilepsy diagnosis or part of a research program are allowed to legally possess CBD products- despite the fact that the products are hemp-derived, which leads many retailers to believe they are protected under the 2014 federal farm bill (which allows states to implement hemp production programs). Daw indicated his colleague, Sen. Evan Vickers, planned on introducing a measure in the upcoming session to legalize CBD sale and possession in a regime requiring product testing and labeling.
According to the Department of Health figures, just 119 people have cards allowing them to possess CBD in Utah.