State Adopts New Restrictive Policy on CBD Sales That Is, at Least in Effect, Quite Similar to the Old Policy

The Maine Department of Agriculture has begun its next phase restricting sales of CBD in the state. Readers will recall that, over the summer, the State took the position that CBD sold in Maine had to be derived from hemp grown in Maine. The reality, of course, is that only a small portion of CBD sold in Maine has its origins in Maine and that policy expired in September.

Now, the State is handing out notifications to retailers and others in the CBD business that ingestible CBD products sold at retail in Maine must be produced in Maine. Here is a copy of that notification received by one retailer in the state:

This sounds different in substance than the State’s policy over the summer. Now, CBD sold in Maine doesn’t have to be derived in Maine. But the reality is that this policy will have largely the same effects since a huge portion of the CBD that is imported into Maine has already been incorporated into food products and is shelf-ready.

Trying to understand the State’s motivations for this latest policy shift, it appears to be related to the federal ban on CBD sold in edible products. The nuance of the State’s position isn’t entirely clear, but as we hear more we will post it here.

The Non-Crackdown on Out-of-State CBD Comes to an End

About a month ago, I noted that the State wasn’t really walking the walk. At the time, the State had only recently began informing CBD vendors that any food products containing CBD derived from hemp grown outside of Maine could not be sold in Maine. This ended up being much ado about nothing. As the law changed yesterday and LD 1749 takes effect, it doesn’t appear that the State ever took any real steps to enforce what it interpreted as a prohibition on out-of-state CBD. Practically speaking, none of this matters anymore, since the prohibition on out-of-state CBD is now officially over. However, I’m re-posting here a Bangor Daily News op-ed from the  several weeks ago which begs the state for a more consistent policy with regards to CBD.

For your consideration: Maine Needs Consistent Policy on Hemp and CBD

The Non-Maine CBD Crackdown: What’s Become of It?

As we’ve previously discussed, Maine is claiming that, until September 19, food products sold in Maine cannot contain CBD grown elsewhere. So how is this policy working out in practice?

We’ve heard from several folks in the industry that the "crackdown" isn’t really materializing. Inspectors from Maine’s Department of Agriculture have been talking about this issue with some retailers in the state, but, in the instances we’ve heard about, inspectors have either told retailers that they’re not interested in checking to determine whether edibles for sale are in compliance, or the inspectors have provided a "verbal warning" to those selling non-Maine CBD products, without any explanation for what this actually means. 

I’d love to hear from anyone who has had any different experiences so far this month, but, so far, at least anecdotally, the State may be taking a conservative approach to enforcement.