What is the Legal Status of Hemp?

Hemp has been removed from the Controlled Substances Act, but CBD is still classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law. Learn more about hemp's legal status & how it affects drug classification.

What is the Legal Status of Hemp?

Hemp has been removed from the Controlled Substances Act, but the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still classify CBD as a Schedule I drug. This means that technically, CBD is still considered a Schedule I drug under federal law. The important point to note is that an unrefined and uncontrolled hemp extract will contain some concentration of THC. Studies have shown that hemp seed oil can help to alleviate fatty liver disease caused by a high-fat diet by regulating inflammation and oxidative stress.

This change could make it easier for researchers to study cannabis and its derivatives, including CBD, which falls within the definition of hemp, which could speed up the development of new drugs. An eight-week intervention with hemp oil has been found to improve the fatty acid composition of erythrocytic phospholipids and the omega-3 index, but does not affect the lipid profile in children and adolescents with primary hyperlipidemia. Respondents preferred CBD derived from cannabis to CBD derived from industrial hemp, with only 9% indicating that they only consume hemp-derived CBD. When hemp containing 0.3% THC and 5.0% CBD is extracted, the final product will contain THC around 6% of the CBD, since THC and CBD are eliminated in an essentially similar way.

Taking hemp seeds together with medications that also decrease blood clotting may increase the risk of bruises and bleeding. In an effort to differentiate between cannabidiol (CBD) in marijuana and CBD in hemp, some definitions and limitations should be provided. Among other things, this new law modifies some federal authorities related to the production and marketing of hemp, defined as the plant Cannabis sativa L. A comparison of supplementation with fish oil, flaxseed oil and hemp seed oil according to selected parameters of cardiovascular health in healthy volunteers has been conducted.

Marinol and Syndros include the active ingredient dronabinol, a synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that is considered the psychoactive component of cannabis.