In an attempt to clarify the confusing regulations around CBD, the California Department of Public Health published a Q&A memo to explain its stance. It includes the confirmation that all hemp-derived CBD is banned from being produced or sold within the state because it is illegal, according to the FDA.

That message came as a surprise to California’s legal cannabis industry, as many retailers stock hemp-derived CBD products on their shelves.

“Until the FDA rules that industrial, hemp-derived CBD oil and CBD products can be used as a food or California makes a determination that they are safe to use for human and animal consumption, CBD products are not an approved food, food ingredient, food additive or dietary supplement,” the memo states.

As the Department of Public Health lays out, the state of California follows federal regulations when it comes to industrial hemp. As a result, California business owners are left hanging in a legal grey area that has government lawyers and private attorneys at odds.

“Hemp is a made up word,” DEA spokesperson Rusty Payne tells VICE. “For it to be controlled, it has to fall within the definition of marijuana, not just test positive for THC. When it comes to CBD, these products are coming from the plant, which is controlled, which is illegal.”

What Payne means is that the Controlled Substances Act makes every part of the cannabis plant – of which hemp is a variety – illegal, except for mature stalk and seeds incapable of germination. Those excluded parts of the plant are considered, by the government, to be unable to produce any banned substances. Any substance made from the rest of the plant is deemed illegal.