At first-ever public hearing on CBD, advocates and FDA try to blaze trail to regulatory compromise
Stat News
Nicholas Florko
May 31, 2019
By 10:30 a.m., a panel of the Food and Drug Administration’s top regulators had already heard from more than 50 different people, all eager to squeeze their hopes or concerns about CBD, the booming marijuana-adjacent compound companies are suddenly adding to everything from dog food to dietary supplements, into the short speaking time they were granted.
CBD advocates, too, called for clearer rules. “There is an urgent need for an efficient regulatory framework,” Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said, who said his association, which represents many of the top CBD producers, is willing to work with the FDA “to help the agency establish measures of quality safety and transparency for the entire industry.” Among the concerns raised both by FDA officials and industry speakers: Whether allowing CBD products to be regulated under the FDA’s lax dietary supplement rules would disincentivize the more rigorous research required before an FDA-approved drug can be put on the market.