On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that will establish a new regulatory regime for production and sales of hemp and hemp extracts in the state.
As the booming hemp and CBD industries await product rules from the Food and Drug Administration, this bill “defers decision making on hemp extracts, including CBD, as additives for food and beverages.”
Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, who represents a region of upstate New York that includes the city of Binghamton, emphasized to Cannabis Wire that while the FDA “does not allow CBD in food, beverages or dietary supplements. New York maintains a robust program for dietary supplements, especially with our new labeling and other standards.”
Cuomo also announced that New York State will host a hemp summit in January to “further develop policies and priorities related to this burgeoning industry.”
The bill requires that hemp products be tested and labeled, and requires that those selling hemp extracts register with state regulators. New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets will regulate hemp growers and the Department of Health will regulate hemp extracts.
CBD products have shown up on New York shelves from bodegas to health food stores, and even in standalone CBD shops.
“The hemp industry in New York is exploding and with that growth comes a responsibility to regulate the industry in a way that helps ensure its long-term viability and protects consumers,” Cuomo said in a statement. “By establishing a regulatory framework for producing and selling hemp and hemp extract we can set the industry on a path to continued growth in a smart, safe way that empowers both farmers and consumers.”
Lupardo bill’s author, has been a strong supporter of the state’s hemp industry.
“We’re understanding that it’s going to take the FDA quite a long time. It has to be data-driven and it could take a while to gather the data. … Because we’re so far down the road with the number of growers and processors, we have to do something,” Lupardo told Cannabis Wire in June, referencing the hundreds of licensed hemp producers in the state, many of which can also process hemp for CBD. (Read Cannabis Wire’s coverage of the bill.)
Lupardo, who was instrumental in passing New York’s hemp legalization bill in 2014, and US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, both spoke at the groundbreaking of Canopy Growth’s hemp industrial park, which opened in July in Broome County, which Lupardo serves. Canopy Growth is the highest-valued cannabis company in the world.
“The Southern Tier is well on its way to becoming the Silicon Valley of industrial hemp,” Schumer said during the July groundbreaking, emphasizing the expected financial boost to the struggling economies of the Southern Tier of New York.
Lupardo told Cannabis Wire at the July event that the industrial hemp park is “not just about revitalizing agriculture,” but also about “reclaiming our place as innovators and manufacturers. That’s what this project means for so many of us.”
In a statement on Monday, Lupardo said that, “This legislation provides important consumer protections, while giving a clear direction for the hundreds of farmers, processors and manufacturers who have made substantial investments in this new industry.”
