Senate Committee vote could open the door to legal CBD oil at federal government level

Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was thumped by a 20-1 vote when the Senate Agriculture Committee gave the thumbs up for CBD oil to be made legal.

This ground-breaking development could be just the impetus that is needed to legalize hemp at federal level and pave the way for an industry that could pump $1 billion into the American economy.

It will also open to door to beleaguered farmers countrywide to make a decent living out of hemp cultivation with by-products that can be used for a countless number of products unrelated to the marijuana industry.

CBD oil is a non-psychoactive hemp by-product that is becoming increasingly recognized in the medical field for its many beneficial properties in the treatment of a wide range of conditions ranging from pain relief to alleviating nausea in cancer sufferers.

The overwhelming support of the Farm Bill by the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee is a huge boost for the hemp farming community. Presently, the federal government restricts the cultivation of industrial hemp only to research and State pilot programs, and only in those States that have already decriminalized the plant.

CBD oil uses

Apart from the many by-products produced from the hemp plant, it is the CBD oil that is the money-spinner. Medically, CBD oil is used in the treatment of:

• Anxiety
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular health promotion
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Inflammation
• Nausea
• Neurological disorders
• Pain relief

CBD oil gripped public attention as a miracle cure for controlling seizures in children and has also been heralded for its antipsychotic effects.

Hemp is part of the cannabis family, but unlike marijuana is low in THC which provides users with a high and is high in CBD, a cannabidiol with curative properties.

So while CBD oil can be freely obtained in all the States that have legalized weed, it is still labeled as a Schedule One drug by the federal government, putting it into the same category as opioids such as heroin and LSD.

Legal hemp advocates

The general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, Jonathan Miller, advocates the removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. He says the Farm Bill defines hemp as all parts of the plant that contains less than 3% THC and includes all derivatives and cannabinoids (CBD) from the marijuana plant.

If the Bill is approved, hemp will become an agricultural commodity but, according to Miller, could still fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Miller says approval of the Bill also did not necessarily imply that certain States would stop prohibiting sales of CBD oil or the cultivation of the plant.

Miller points out that apart from CBD, hemp has a multitude of uses in the production of items as diverse as car paneling to concrete.

Miller says hemp is used in the production of most plastics but because it is biodegradable, hemp can be utilized in a renewable way.

He reminds us that hemp offers farmers a new and viable source of income, pointing out that many farms have changed from tobacco to hemp so, instead of growing crops that can kill people, farmers will be able to cultivate a plant that will help people.

The Trump factor

In another major turnaround, President Donald Trump recently stated his support for putting an end to the federal ban on marijuana. However, it is Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who could be the spoke in the wheel as he continues to ardently oppose legal pot.

The Farm Bill will replace the existing legislation that expires at the end of September and will be presented to the House of Representatives for final approval before that date.