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In Canada, as it stands, CBD and its psychoactive cousin, the more potent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), are regulated in the identical way: Both are legal under the Cannabis Act for medical and recreational use.

That means CBD derived from the hemp plant — widely seen as a cheaper source of the compound — also falls under the jurisdiction of Health Canada and the Cannabis Act, which effectively means that it can only be extracted by a licensed cannabis producer, and only available in flower or non-concentrated oil to be sold by licensed private or provincial retailers.

Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

“For hemp farmers, I know a big question to them is, ‘Why do we have to go through the Cannabis Act for extracting CBD from hemp, why can’t we have a separate hemp processing stream?’” Ross-Vrana said.

“Well, then you’ll have Health Canada saying we have to make sure the processing of CBD is consistent across the board. And that’s a fair argument, but to hemp producers, they’re going to then ask, ‘Well, how long will it now take us to get a cannabis license?’” he explained.

It’s yet another hurdle for hemp producers, who for decades have had to wrestle with the stigma of growing a plant tainted by its association with cannabis, even though hemp has only trace amounts of THC.