News — Hemp CBD

Farmers still making sense of long-delayed nationwide rules for growing hemp in 2021 and beyond got another wrinkle Wednesday when the incoming administration of President Joe Biden ordered a “freeze” on new regulations. The memo instructed federal agencies — including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees hemp production — to consider additional 30-day comment periods for rules that have been finalized but not yet taken effect. Hemp falls into that category; the rules were published Tuesday but don’t take effect until March. The memo said the additional comment period is a request, but not a requirement. USDA hasn’t answered multiple attempts from Hemp Industry...

Clint Eastwood has filed a third lawsuit alleging CBD companies are falsely claiming he’s endorsing their products. The legal action is the second the legendary actor has filed against Los Angeles-based Norok Innovation Inc. and its CEO Eric Popowicz but includes a different set of defendants, according to Law 360, which first reported the case. “Like many of his most famous characters, Mr. Eastwood is not afraid to confront wrongdoing and hold accountable those that try to illegally profit off his name,” the lawsuit filed in California federal court says. It accuses Norok and other entities of hiding his name in...

A looming legal challenge to Texas’ ban on smokable hemp sales has been delayed until March. Travis County District Court Judge Livingston rescheduled the smokable hemp ban hearing back to March 22, 2021. The hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 1. The delay was first reported by the Texas Cannabis Collective. It comes at the request of the plaintiffs, a group of hemp producers who say Texas health authorities went too far in banning smokable hemp sales. The Texas Department of State Health Services says the ban was required by law. The ban took effect in August but hasn’t been enforced....

A Dutch biocontrols giant that has flexed into the cannabis space, Koppert Biological Systems, has acquired a Brazilian drone company in a bid to use drones to apply its sustainable biocontrols in Brazil. Koppert said its acquisition of Geocom will help it “accelerate precision agrifarming, which is crucial for bringing biologicals to the fields,” according to a company statement. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. Geocom is privately held and based in Lençóis Paulista in São Paulo, Brazil. The founders of Geocom, Antonio Donizeti de Oliveira and Gláucio Carrit Antiga, will remain involved as consultants. Koppert Biological Systems’ Agri Division Director, Martin...

The European Union’s drug agency has signaled that it is mulling the legal and commercial status of CBD and cannabis-based products in Europe in a new report. The Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction published the report on Monday, detailing the results of a study that kicked off in 2018 and aimed to provide insight into the open sale of low-THC products in Europe. “The specific objectives were to identify and further explore the types of product available and the range of sales outlets, user profiles, associated harms and responses taken in different EU countries,” the authors wrote. The...