By Keith Mansur

Oregon Cannabis Connection

The Bismarck, North Dakota, Police Department and the local Narcotics Unit raided two health food and supplement stores and made them remove all their CBD oil products off their shelves on Thursday, May 11th. Well, it wasn’t too much of a “raid”, really. They allowed the shops to keep the products and they bought samples of the products to have tested for both Cannabidiol (CBD) and for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Terry’s Health Products and Bisman Food Co-op both had police come to their stores and make them remove the industrial hemp derived CBD oil and cease selling the products until their investigation can be completed. According to police, CBD became a schedule 1 drug in December under North Dakota law, which would make it not legal for sale under state law.

Both shops said that the products have been selling like crazy recently. Terry’s Health Products has been selling the oil for three years without a problem.

Bisman Food Co-op released a statement which stated, “The Bisman Food Co-op is fully committed to providing to our members and customers a variety of health and wellness products that are safe, consistent with the co-op’s guiding principles, and compliant with all state and federal laws.”

There has been a heated debate between the hemp industry and federal authorities over CBD that is derived from hemp. According to a DEA clarification memo released in March, “If an extract of cannabinoids were produced using extracted resin from any part of the cannabis plant (including the parts excluded from the CSA definition of marijuana), such an extract would be included in the CSA definition of marijuana.”

But, for months hemp farmers have claimed they are protected by the definitions of industrial hemp saying that since the compound is extracted from plants that meet the low THC definition of industrial hemp they are legal for sale and interstate commerce. Their claims have fallen on deaf ears on the federal level, and it’s scheduling under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) has apparently carried over to the state level in North Dakota.

Many states, including ones like Georgia, allow the possession of CBD but have provided no means of production and distribution which makes the laws especially impotent. In Georgia, one politician has taken it upon himself to distribute the medically beneficial compound across the state. Until federal laws are straightened out, we will continue to see upstanding and honorable people become entangled in a gray area of the law and risk committing a felony to help desperate people.

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