Being a relatively forward-thinking state, I expect cannabis to become legal in New York within the next year or so. I’m actually a bit surprised that it’s not already legal.
As a matter of fact, Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the majority of state residents are pro-cannabis. “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get a historic issue right for future New Yorkers,” said Mayor de Blasio said in a recent interview. “Legal cannabis is coming to New York state.” But despite all this, CBD – the non-psychoactive, therapeutic compound found in cannabis – has been under fire lately from New York health officials. So what gives?
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Following the current legal pattern that’s been hitting Spain, Austria, UK and other states like California and Maine, New York banned the sale of CBD edibles under the guise that it’s a potentially unsafe food ingredient. The Department of Health is saying that restaurants and other vendors can still sell it as an additive, but they cannot actually put it in the food that’s being sold.
CBD edibles are under fire lately – in New York and elsewhere
As if that’s not already confusing, here’s where things get really hazy. No one has received any official guidelines outlining the legal requirements of this new law, despite multiple inquiries from small business owners and the New York City Hospitality Alliance. They don’t know when they have to stop selling, whether or not they can sell the rest of their inventory, or what the deal is with selling it as an “additive”.
All this is right on the heels of the updated Farm Bill, which legalized the sale of hemp-derived CBD. And what I personally find interesting is the fact that many other ingredients, such as dyes, preservatives, and high-fructose corn syrup, are added to our food supply at alarming rates… yet this cannabinoid that’s been scientifically proven to have a myriad of benefits for our health is banned.
New York CBD edibles dilemma
Regardless of the catch 22, if New York wants to be able to compete with some of the biggest online CBD markets, they’ll need to adopt a reasonable method of governing CBD edibles without banning them entirely.
keep yourself updated. Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter for all the latest news and information about the crackdown on CBD.
