Hemp farmers looking for answers after Mass. says they can’t sell CBD products

Julia Jerome, production manager at Healing Rose, and David Ferragamo, owner of Euphoric Food, a cannabis catering company, hold up signs to support hemp growth at the State House.

It doesn’t take more than a few steps down Newbury Street to find a CBD store. The substance is so common that it’s easier to find in the Boston area than any kind of retail marijuana store. Much easier.

But unlike marijuana stores, retailers selling hemp-derived CBD have been operating in a legal gray area, not regulated by the state but largely ignored by most local law enforcement agencies or health boards. After state regulators declared hemp-derived CBD products more-or-less illegal this month, Massachusetts’ hemp farmers are looking for some clarity.

“It feels like they’re trying to stop an industry that was literally just about to take off the ground,” said Laura Beohner, cofounder of The Healing Rose, a CBD company based in Newburyport. “To hurt hemp farmers like this, it’s so upsetting.”

Beohner was one of nearly three dozen people who spoke outside the State House Monday at a rally organized by a new coalition of hemp farmers, manufacturers, and advocates called the MASS Hemp Coalition.

Joshua Faulkner, 6, introduces himself on the steps of the State House. Faulkner has epilepsy and uses CBD oil to control his seizures. Faulkner and his mother, Melissa, center, spoke with at MASS Hemp Coalition press conference Monday.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

The rally was sparked by the new state policy prohibiting the sale of hemp-derived CBD in foods and hemp-derived CBD products that make “therapeutic/medicinal claims.”

The majority of CBD products on the market, even in states that have legalized recreational marijuana, are derived from hemp, a plant similar to marijuana but grown with only minimal levels of THC, the mind-altering compound found in cannabis. Hemp was legalized federally last year and is widely sold, although the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve food or dietary uses for CBD.

CBD products that are derived from marijuana, some of which also include a higher level of THC than is allowed in hemp, are overseen by the state Cannabis Control Commission.

Allowing for marijuana-derived CBD while banning hemp-derived CBD is poor public policy, said Jim Borghesani, a former spokesman for the 2016 campaign for legalization.

“You can’t have this absurd dichotomy in the state where you can have marijuana or cannabis consumables, but you can’t have hemp consumables,” he said.

Jim Borghesani, a marijuana consultant and policy advocate, speaks on the steps of the State House.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

For Massachusetts farmers who already have state licenses to grow hemp, the ban on CBD products is affecting their livelihood.

“Less than two months ago, I applied for my processing and manufacturing license, and enumerated that I’d be making edibles, tinctures, infused foods, and I was given a license,” said Julia Agron, a hemp farmer and MASS Hemp Coalition organizer. “For us, if we can’t sell our artisanal product at artisanal prices, we can’t farm.”

Among a variety of recommendations, the coalition is calling for the Legislature to “allow for the immediate sale of hemp-derived CBD products,” according to organizers.

Marion McNabb, CEO of the Cannabis Community Care and Research Network and one of the cofounders of the MASS Hemp Coalition, said hemp farmers desperately want a regulatory framework for selling CBD products and were stunned by the abrupt ban.

“It just took the community by surprise,” she said.

Regulations would be beneficial for consumers, too, McNabb said.

“A consumer wants to know what they’re buying and what’s in it,” she said. “I think there’s value in knowing that it’s locally grown in Massachusetts, that it’s not something you’re buying out of a gas station.”

The MASS Hemp Coalition held a press conference at the State House Monday.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
Potsquatch, also known as Dave Mech, left, listens to the MASS Hemp Coalition as they hold a press conference Monday.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
Haley Games, of Haverhill, holds up a sign to support the farming and production of hemp.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
Amy Flagg holds up a sign to support hemp rights.(ERIN CLARK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

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Felicia Gans can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans.

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