Todd Runestad | Mar 31, 2021
When in the course of extracting CBD oil from hemp biomass, an almost inevitable occurrence is a brief moment where the intermediary hemp material (IHM) concentrates the cannabinoid content to more than 0.3% THC. This is routinely remediated out to waste hemp material (HWM) so that the finished product has THC levels below that 0.3% level. That, however, is not good enough for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The nonpareil drug warrior agency issued an interim final rule (IFR) last August that takes the position that transiently hot hemp during the extraction process qualifies as “marihuana,” and thus, extractors are in possession of a Schedule I controlled substance. Extractors are freaked out that they could now become felons just for doing their job.
HIA is famous for defeating DEA in court—starting in 2004 when it successfully won the right to nosh on hemp seeds.