In a survey conducted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, more than three-quarters of Americans have assumed that CBD products sold commercially are controlled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is mostly untrue.

Of the 2,056 respondents who joined the survey, 76% believed that CBD-based products were regulated by the FDA, while 16% of the respondents were doubtful as to the regulation of CBD by the FDA. The study marked around 92% of Americans who are still confused by CBD regulations or apparent lack thereof.

What the study revealed

According to the study, over 6 in 10 Americans or 62% of the respondents are aware of cannabidiol products, but most of them are mistaken or doubtful about the nature of CBD, its effects, and whether all CBD-containing products are safe for consumption.

The only cannabidiol-based product that FDA has approved is Epidiolex, a medicine derived from marijuana that is used for the treatment of specific seizure disorders. The FDA stated that more studies need to be conducted before they can hand the approval for CBD, whether mixed in cosmetics, food, or other products. That, despite topical and salves being openly marketed at big retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, and Kroger.

The popular assumption regarding CBD stems from the 2018 Farm Bill. It legalized industrial hemp, which is where cannabidiol is derived. Jeff Lawrence, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment director of Environmental Health and Sustainability, stated that the federal approval granted to hemp made consumers assume that CBD products are now regulated and legal even if it’s not the case. The Farm Bill only approved fiber and seed products derived from industrial hemp, not CBD.

A look at CBD in Colorado

Cannabidiol has become a commodity over the years. Lawrence said that they had observed it in Colorado, where marijuana and other cannabis-derived products are somewhat progressive.

Lawrence added that Colorado made efforts to oversee CBD within the state. The Colorado Legislature allowed hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol as a food and cosmetics additive since 2018.

States that legalized marijuana and have progressive industrial hemp laws like Oregon and Colorado have regulated CBD use. However, there were certain factors that prevented the FDA from researching about CBD easily until recently.

Before the Farm Bill, hemp was included in the federal list of controlled substances, along with heroin and THC-laden marijuana, which means that studies on CBD were undertaken by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). However, now that hemp is legal, Lawrence believes that federal research on CBD will experience change.

Lawrence further stated that the FDA had little capacity to inspect CBD from a medical viewpoint. Now, the agency is still trying to understand what CBD really is.

FDA stance on CBD

Although the FDA still has much to do about CBD regulation, the agency stressed that the substance is still illegal as an additive to consumed products. However, the CBD industry is still booming despite it. The agency recently penned warning letters to fifteen CBD companies that use fake promotional claims on their products.

While the FDA is yet to issue official guidelines on CBD regulations, consumers are responsible for choosing which CBD products to buy and use, and conduct a self-research on how such products may affect them. It includes inspecting the product label, third-part lab test procedures, and the company’s reputation.

Some reports have shown that several products could have more or less of their advertised THC or CBD content.

Lawrence believes that CBD-based product testing is a crucial issue to be handled by the CDPHE and the Governor’s administration. He stated that the emerging industry could have companies that only look to cash in on the craze. The department is set on ensuring that CBD products are clearly labeled, hemp-derived, and contain the right dosage.

He also hopes that this CBD growth will encourage Colorado state departments to create new regulations. He sees the need for the alignment of benefits concerning the agricultural crop, whether in Colorado or other parts of the country.

Bill Turnbull of BBC breakfast show fame has prostate cancer. His ongoing battle with the deadly disease is not being dealt with by chemo sessions but rather by Cannabis Oil. In a recent show for BBC, he spoke with his old colleagues Naga Munchetty and Dan Walker about how his experience with cannabis oil for cancer is turning out to be enjoyable. He also mentioned how the combination of CBD along with giving up alcohol and meat and rejuvenated his health. He told the presenters that his current health was in pink and he did not feel any pain. His decision to adopt the CBD way of healing vis-à-vis the conventional chemo has indeed brought some good results.

The moment his belief in chemotherapy disappeared in 2017, he decided and was firm to adopt any alternative therapy which will help him. The inspiration for CBD came to him when in the UK a 14-year-old boy miraculously recovered from his cancer and how every passing day he is feeling better. After taking CBD oil, he feels he has been the healthier version of himself. On further questioning, he also said that due to lack of research he was unsure about how much to take. That is why he has stopped taking it and is urging the medical sector and government to undertake more research.

Research in a way would also mean that people’s curiosity and fears will be settled. CBD has been there for thousands of years but we have only recently known its good and bad. A substance with that much potential should never be ignored or pushed to the background. The hemp-extracted plant also has anti-inflammatory properties with less than 0.3% THC levels. It is different compared to marijuana because of THC and also the effects it produces like intoxication and excessive addiction.

Despite being so beneficial in treating lots of ailments like cancer, joint pains, Alzheimer’s diseases, depression, and insomnia, people still attach a lot of stigma to it the way they attach to marijuana. Many medical foundations want to give this a try and have divulged that they will soon be funding research for CBD and its effectiveness. Recently a welfare organization has researched to see if CBD is effective in silencing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The research is slated to begin next year and if effective will establish CBD as one of the major ingredients not to be missed in medications.

Bill has currently stopped because he does not want to risk its dosages. He feels invigorated after the changes he had made to his lifestyle and feels fresher and lighter than ever. His colleague also joking tells him that she has known him as a meat lover and this dramatic change is surely worth a mention. Turnbull agreed to this but has said that he has given up meat majorly and alcohol completely and feels better after doing so. He feels that he has mellowed down quite a bit.

All the revelations were made by Bill in a show documentary called Staying Alive. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 and found that this cancer spread very easily. In the documentary, he also spoke at length about his treatment procedure and coming to terms with the deadly disease. He also mentions to his friends and hosts of the show that he has felt that this was quite a point of realization for him and time to look back at the truth.

His tryst with cannabis oil has been successful. When he was first diagnosed he was given little time to live which extended up to 8 years of age. But he also becomes practical that one day he has to go and will live the number of years he was destined to live. If while living and not living he can make himself feel better then he sees no harm in it.

Bill Turnbull has accepted his conditions and believes that he has a strong family force behind him to feel stronger. It is due to the immense love that his family has shown and the way they have backed him, gives him more reason and strength to recover.

In one of the lighter moments of the clip he is also shown smoking cannabis and amidst laughter explains the wonders of the product. Bill has not been a keen follower of CBD but believes that if it can be used for medicinal value then there is no harm.

He feels that there should be something right in it that 20 countries have now legalized it. The authorities should have a healthy discussion about it to take it forward instead of neglecting its potential.

The show ended with Turnbull feeling emotional about how the family took the news and how devastating it was at the beginning to come to terms with it.

CBD vape users thought the product they puff could grant them a soothing feeling but instead caused them to take a trip to the ER. It’s because what they inhaled contained a tinge of synthetic marijuana, which caused bouts of hallucinations and seizures.

As soon as the outbreak ended last year, more than 50 individuals in Salt Lake City were poisoned by the vape brand ‘Yolo!’, which colloquially means ‘you only live once’.

There are some hundred or so vape users who are reported to have developed strange lung diseases, with around 30 deaths resulting from the incident. Users attribute this unfortunate circumstance to Yolo.

Law enforcers and public health officials made investigated, yet there is little information about the substance or where it came from.

The Associated Press digs deep

With the event of CBD vapes being illegally spiked and causing psychoactive effects on users, The Associated Press investigated on the matter to understand the Yolo story.

They traced it to an entrepreneur from a Southern California beach town who made a career change following her vaping habit. It is also what led her to a change of scenery, from Hollywood parties to a Manhattan federal court.

In 2010, Janell Thompson moved to San Diego from Utah and found the roommate whom she first met online. She also vaped.

Thompson and her roommate’s shared interest in vape soon turned into a business. Using her financial services background, Thompson founded Hookahzz, an electronic cigarette company.

The company showed promise and early success as they distributed Hookahzz products during a pre-party at the Emmy Awards. Their vape products were also included in gift bags for Oscar nominees in 2014. An industry insider called them the ‘divas of CBD’ in a video filmed at a particular trade show.

Hookahzz is one of the first companies to market vapes infused with CBD or cannabidiol. Nowadays, CBD is mixed as an ingredient for many products such as gummy bears and creams, which used to be illegal in some states and virtually unknown during that time.

The business partners also developed other CBD brands that sold edibles, capsules, and pet products. Thompson pitched their CBD pet items with the story of her dog’s tumor being treated by the substance.

Selling the spiked vapes

In the autumn of 2017, Thompson and partner founded Mathco Health Corporation, a new CBD company. In just a few months, their Yolo product was being sold in stores around Salt Lake City. The said product contained K2 or spice, also known as synthetic marijuana.

Significantly cheaper, manmade synthetic marijuana is commonly extracted from hemp.

Samples sent to a lab in Utah showed that Yolo has synthetic marijuana and no trace of CBD at all. It is responsible for the death of at least 11 people in Europe.

Authorities figured that some users tried Yolo to get high, while others were unaware of the presence of synthetic marijuana in the product. However, they were boggled about the product’s source. The Utah Bureau of Investigation were grasping at straws since no seller would talk about Yolo. The packaging also doesn’t have any contact details.

Come summer of 2018 when a former bookkeeper from Mathco prepared a workplace retaliation complaint and gathered evidence of the corrupt business practices she believed the company did. Tatianna Gustafson did her research and got ahold of online pictures showing Yolo as the culprit in Salt Lake City poisoning.

In the complaint she submitted to the Department of Industrial Relations in California, Gustafson wrote that Mathco excluded how Yolo was manufactured in the product’s promotional material. It was missing contact information and ingredients list on the label.

Another former Mathco employee named Justin Davis stated to AP that Yolo profit margins were more substantial than other products.

Implications of the ex-employee complaint

Gustafson’s filing of the complaint showed that Mathco, with incorporated company JK Wholesale, manufactured and distributed Yolo. Thompson’s initials were found in the company’s financial records, signing as the chief salesperson for transactions.

Records also showed Yolo being sold in six more states, including South Carolina. A case reported one college student going into a coma after vaping the said product.

Gustafson also tipped the Utah Poison Control Center regarding the people behind Yolo in her complaint.

Barbara Crouch, director for the state’s poison center, confirmed getting the tip that she passed to the Utah investigations bureau. Christopher Elsholz, SBI agent, made contact with the tipster who revealed that Yolo was distributed by the company she was working for. Since the company was out of their jurisdiction, Elsholz forwarded the statement to the DEA.

DEA Spokeswoman Mary Brandenberg took no action despite offering help. The agency considers spiked CBD as a low priority since they face more significant issues like the opioid epidemic.

How Thompson was caught

It wasn’t synthetic marijuana that ultimately led Thompson to the federal court.

Vape brands Black Diamond and Black Magic had reportedly sent 40 North Carolina residents to the hospital, including military men and school students. Investigators linked Thompson to the said outbreak due to a guilty plea of the spiked vape distributor who insisted it was Thompson who supplied the vape liquid.

Thompson also pleaded guilty to charges by New York prosecutors concerning the distribution of K2 and money laundering. They cited Yolo as the spiked brand.

US Attorney Geoffrey Berman labeled Thompson as a drug trafficker who distributed large quantities of K2 through JK Wholesale since 2014. She is facing prison time of up to 40 years.

Katarina Maloney, roommate and business partner, excluded herself from Yolo and Thompson in an interview last August at Mathco headquarters. She received no charges in the federal investigation.

A supplementary email from Maloney stated that the Yolo found in Utah did not come from their company. She wrote that their corporation does not engage in the illegal product market. She also insisted that their CBD products are 100% law-abiding.

However, Maloney denied requests to show lab results for their Yolo products.