Non-binding Guidance: FDA’s Regulation of Products Containing CBD

Ropes & Gray’s new podcast series, Non-binding Guidance, highlights FDA regulatory developments and trends affecting the life sciences industry. In this inaugural episode, Ropes & Gray lawyers Al Cacozza, Sarah Blankstein and Joshua Oyster discuss how the FDA is currently regulating products containing cannabidiol, or CBD, and what to expect from FDA and Congress in the wake of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s surprise resignation this month. The 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law last December, legalized hemp and its non-psychoactive ingredient CBD and distinguished both from marijuana, which is still considered by the federal government to be an illegal narcotic. But the Farm Bill left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the emerging CBD industry because it expressly allowed FDA to continue unchanged its oversight and regulation of CBD products. Tune in to this lively discussion of the repercussions of the Farm Bill, how the FDA and state agencies are responding, and what investors and other stakeholders should know.