After an attempt last year fizzled in the state senate, California lawmakers are once again trying to pass a bill allowing cannabidiol (CBD) in ingestible and topical products. But this time, there’s a twist: The bill would also ban smokable hemp.

AB45 would permit cannabinoids and other hemp extracts to be added to dietary supplements, food, beverages, cosmetics and pet food. Those are all currently prohibited in the state. Meanwhile, the bill would also ban smokable hemp flower, along with hemp products ”containing nicotine, tobacco, or alcohol.”

The bill comes at a time when states across the country are working out laws regarding the end uses of those two hemp products: flower and cannabinoids. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sees nearly any product with CBD as federally illegal. The agency has not yet released a stance on smokable hemp, making it federally legal. (Arguably, the FDA has no jurisdiction over smokable hemp at all, says Harris Bricken Attorney Jesse Mondry in Hemp Grower’s January issue.)

AB45 would flip those stances on their heads, legalizing CBD in thousands of products while making smokable hemp illegal. This follows in the footsteps of Texas, which has implemented similar regulations; however, that state’s smokable hemp ban is currently being challenged in court and was temporarily placed on hold.

RELATED: Texas Opens Hemp Production for its Nearly 250,000 Farms

State Rep. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who sponsored the bill, says state public health officials asked for the smokable hemp ban to be added to the bill. She adds that the bill, including the smokable hemp ban in particular, is subject to debate in the legislature.

“Since health officials represent the biggest community of concern, we don’t want to risk the overall effort unless enough people in the industry are passionate enough to engage and can successfully advocate for them to change that position,” Aguiar-Curry tells Hemp Grower.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel for U.S. Hemp Roundtable, adds that "there are efforts and discussions in the governor's office and [among] legislators to explore removing that ban."

Aguiar-Curry says she's hopeful the bill will pass this time around, which will likely happen some time between August and September. The bill contains an urgency clause, meaning it will become effective upon a signature from the governor. 

Miller adds that California farmers have expressed their opposition to the smokable hemp ban. "It’s probably the easiest and most profitable way to market hemp right now,” he says.

DAVIS, California, January 14, 2020 - PRESS RELEASE – Marrone Bio Innovations (NASDAQ: MBII) (MBI), a global provider of bio-based crop protection and plant health products, today announced that it recently received approval for Grandevo WDG Bioinsecticide for use in New Zealand and Chile. Grandevo WDG and Grandevo CG have also been approved for use on hemp by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Growers are aggressively seeking alternative crop protection solutions that will serve as safe and effective controls for increasingly problematic pests,” said Kevin Hammill, Chief Commercial Officer of Marrone Bio Innovations. “After several years of extensive field trials in the U.S., we have witnessed the strong performance of how Grandevo WDG Bioinsecticide works on specialty crops. Now growers around the world will be able to experience the performance of Grandevo – from the high-value vineyards of New Zealand’s Marlborough region to Chile’s famous Colchagua Valley.”

In New Zealand, Grandevo WDG will be sold by Nufarm as BioGro and is approved for controlling mealybug on New Zealand’s famous wine grape crop. BioGro is registered and approved by Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (SWNZ), a world-leading sustainability program for growing wine grapes, and is allowed for use on both organic and conventional grape-growing systems from pre-flowering to bunch closure. Additional crops and pests are expected for approval in the coming year.

Grandevo WDG was approved for use in blueberries, grapes, stone fruit, tomatoes, avocados and onions by the Ministry of Agriculture in Chile (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero - SAG) in November 2020 and is distributed by Anasac, a leading Chilean agriculture inputs provider. Grandevo WDG was among one of the first products of its kind to be approved under SAG’s new regulatory guidance (No. 9074/2018) for biological pesticides, as published in December 2018. Chile is a major exporter of fresh blueberries and grapes and accounts for 60% of all fruit exports within South America.

In the U.S., Grandevo WDG and Grandevo CG were recently approved by the EPA for use on hemp, a high-value crop that has seen rapid growth since its authorization for cultivation in the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill. The approval of the bioinsecticide will provide growers with some much-needed help in the management of problematic pests such as thrips and mites and comes at a time when, due to the highly regulated environment of hemp growing and processing, limited crop protection products have been available. Growers are encouraged to check with their state pesticide regulatory agency or MBI for registration status and can expect state approval in time for the planting of the 2021 hemp crop. 

Grandevo WDG is a microbial-based insecticide that contains several active compounds to repel, stop feeding, reduce reproduction, and induce mortality of damaging populations of sucking and chewing insects, flies and mites. Grandevo is ideal for integrated pest management (IPM) programs as it is soft on a wide range of beneficial insects including honeybees. The bioinsecticide is also Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) Exempt, requires minimal Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), has a four-hour Re-Entry Interval (REI) and is approved for both organic and conventional production.

To learn more about Grandevo WDG Bioinsecticide, visit www.MarroneBio.com/products/grandevo.

About Marrone Bio Innovations
Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: MBII) is a growth-oriented company leading the movement to a more sustainable world through the discovery, development and sale of innovative biological products for crop protection and plant health that help customers operate more sustainably while increasing their return on investment.

Editor's Note: This story was updated Jan. 15 with a correction. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated hemp that tests above 1% THC will not be considered a negligent violation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published its final rule on hemp, signaling what may be the start of an era of stability for an industry that has been in near-constant flux since its legalization in 2018—that is, if the new incoming administration decides to keep the regulations.

The final rule is set to take effect March 22 and replace the USDA’s interim final rule (IFR) on hemp, which was published Oct. 31, 2019.

“With the publication of this final rule, USDA brings to a close a full and transparent rule-making process that started with a hemp listening session in March 2019,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Greg Ibach in a statement. “USDA staff have taken the information you have provided through three comment periods and from your experiences over a growing season to develop regulations that meet Congressional intent while providing a fair, consistent, science-based process for states, tribes and individual producers. USDA staff will continue to conduct education and outreach to help industry achieve compliance with the requirements.”

The rule’s 300 pages outline licensing requirements, recordkeeping requirements, procedures for testing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations, procedures for disposing of non-compliant plants and more.

The THC limit for hemp remains at 0.3% despite at least hundreds—if not thousands—of comments on the IFR, as well as efforts by industry organizations, urging an increase to 1%. (Just one day prior to the USDA releasing its final rule, Kentucky lawmakers introduced a bill that would increase the allowable amount of THC in hemp to 1% in the state.)

However, Shawn Hauser, partner and chair of the Hemp and Cannabinoids Department at Vicente Sederberg LLP, says a number of improvements were made in the final rule based upon feedback received on the IFR during two separate comment periods. These include:

• an expanded harvest window time from 15 days to 30;
• alternative options for disposing of or remediating hemp that tests above the compliant THC level;
• an increased standard of negligence from 0.5% to 1% THC. This means hemp that tests above 0.3% but below 1% THC will not be considered a negligent violation, but it will still need to be disposed or remediated.

“The transition from prohibition to a legal and regulated system takes time, and USDA’s final rule is a historic step forward for hemp in the U.S.,” Hauser says in a statement. “…We are undoubtedly making progress, and we will continue to work with regulators and through Congress to perfect the regulatory structure for hemp.”

In 2020, the USDA announced the delay of some requirements outlined in the IFR, including the requirement for labs to be registered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the requirement that producers use DEA-registered law enforcement to dispose of non-compliant plants. Those delays have been further extended under the final rule until December 2022.

States operating under the 2014 Farm Bill will continue to be allowed to do so until Jan. 1, 2022.

Is the Final Rule Final?

Larry Farnsworth, spokesperson for the National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC), says the organization is “pleased USDA has finally released their long-awaited rule on U.S. domestic hemp production and glad they listened to the concerns of the industry regarding sampling and testing.”

However, with President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration set for Jan. 20, Farnsworth predicts that the final rule may not be the end-all for federal hemp regulations.

“We anticipate, as is customary of new administrations, that this rule will be one of many that will be frozen on the first day of the Biden Administration,” Farnsworth tells Hemp Grower. “We look forward to working through these issues with the incoming Biden Administration and have all of this year to get it right before the 2014 authorities sunset.”

 

ECO Cannabis is operating not only for itself, but for people living in Oakland, Calif., who have been impacted by cannabis prohibition.

The vertically integrated company runs an incubation program for social equity dispensary and delivery businesses in East Oakland and purchases 50% of its product from social equity companies. Out of eight companies that ECO has been incubating, six of them have graduated. ECO also promotes diverse hiring and hires people who have been affected by the war on drugs.

Launched in January 2019, ECO has cultivation, manufacturing and retail operations. The company cultivates cannabis crops at a facility dubbed Mossrock and manufactures at another it calls Rubberrock. The two facilities, both in East Oakland, total 90,000 square feet. Its storefront is located at Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.

Employment at ECO

ECO’s employment is diverse both in terms of who works there and what they do. For instance, the company hires and promotes people who were previously incarcerated, which helps those individuals reintegrate into society, ECO CEO Kevin Ahaesy said in an email.

© Mike Rosati

Adhering to an organizational structure and culture that aids those affected by cannabis prohibition goes a long way, Ahaesy said. “For example, to develop, manage and facilitate initiatives around diversity, equity inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) both internally and externally in a way that improves recruitment, hiring, retention, organizational culture, promotion, and progression for … employees … can make a remarkably positive impact on those employees’ work and life experience.”

Roughly 35 of ECO’s employees work in cultivation and manufacturing, and about 15 work in retail, Ahaesy said. When looking for employees, he said, ECO partners with “job programs that cater to those who have been formerly incarcerated and/or affected by the war on drugs. In all of our job postings we also strongly encourage those individuals, Black, Brown, indigenous, people of color, women, and LGBTQIA folks to apply.”

Employees work to produce and sell popular strains such as Airheads, Space Nugs (Airheads flower covered in kief of the same strain) and Town Gas, said ECO Executive Assistant Anna Walia.

As Walia pointed out, the city of Oakland received more than $6.5 million in grant funding from California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control and Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) for its cannabis equity program.

“That funding covers the cost of licensing fees that equity applicants do not have to pay in the city of Oakland,” she said.

RELATED: Need to Know: State Dollars Help Sacramento Build Equity Program

Half of Oakland’s cannabis businesses must be issued to equity applicants, according to the city’s municipal code. In addition to meeting an Oakland residency requirement, these applicants must meet certain income criteria and have either lived in at least one of 21 designated Oakland Police Department beats for 10 of the past 20 years or been “convicted of a cannabis crime committed in Oakland” since Nov. 5, 1996.

ECO sponsors these cannabis companies and also “maintains that 50% of its employees are formerly incarcerated and given the opportunity to thrive in the industry,” Walia said.

The company hires “exceptional talent with a reputation for excelling in their field,” said Amber Buchanan, chief operating officer. “We then support this talent by ensuring they have all the tools for success, including custom built facilities with full sensor-based monitoring of environmentals for precision agriculture, state-of-the-art LED lighting, automated fertigation systems, and advanced closed loop extraction equipment. The safety of our consumers and employees is our top priority and our facilities are sanitized from top to bottom daily with hospital grade protocol.”

© Cornelio Greer

Incubating Success

Working with ECO, incubated companies have found increased success. Olando Graves, owner of My Natural Solutions, a cannabis distribution and delivery company, has been involved in Oakland’s equity program for the past 10 months. Graves was quoted in a blog post on ECO’s website, saying, “The program assisted in my ability to obtain a cannabis license and start a business.”

Furthermore, Graves said in the blog that Ahaesy “showed true sincerity in assisting and working with” him and other social equity applicants, unlike “sharks” who had approached him.

In addition, ECO has sold wholesale product to My Natural Solutions, Buchanan said.

The grant funding from BCC and GO-Biz has been a boon for the incubator program, allowing ECO “to continue to fulfill its mission in supporting marginalized and oppressed people who deserve a chance to grow in the industry with us,” Ahaesy said.

Ahaesy added that “industry, policymakers and other stakeholders” can all play a role in breaking down barriers to entry and success for Black, Brown, indigenous and people of color (BBIPOC). In addition, he said, “The industry can raise its standards in practicing diverse hiring strategies. Representation in [media and social media] also matters to folks, especially to marginalized and oppressed groups.”

“[Providing] more training programs that are cannabis management-specific for those who have had no formal education and/or training would be a valuable resource for BBIPOC in the cannabis industry,” Ahaesy said. “Making cannabis legislation more accessible and understandable for those same individuals such that they feel empowered in their cannabis careers would be another step in the right direction.”

Buchanan highlighted some developments that are on the horizon at ECO. “We are currently expanding the number of grow rooms on our main campus [Mossrock], launching a new line of manufactured products under the brand ‘Oak Town Labs,’ re-inventing our ‘Dankfoot’ brand to focus on infused products, and developing a line of health and beauty products which will be known as ‘Higher Self,’” she said.

The company also plans to expand its retail presence in 2021, offering product that Ahaesy said is “Oakland-grown, certified fresh, and less than one month old when it hits our shelves."