Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

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Cannabis: In Focus

  • FDA and FTC Issue Cease and Desist Letters to Companies Selling Delta-8 Edibles
  • FDA Releases Draft Guidance for Psychedelic Drug Research
  • Federal Agencies Investigating Former Oregon Secretary of State’s Ties to Cannabis Company
  • “Plain” Packaging Guidelines for Missouri Cannabis Products Go Into Effect July 30

Continue Reading Cannabis Legal Report—Week of July 17, 2023

Cannabis: In Focus

  • New York City Attempts to Crack Down on Illicit Cannabis Market
  • Connecticut Launches Recreational Cannabis Sales, With More States Expected to Follow in 2023
  • Psilocybin State Updates
  • FDA Issues Three New Warning Letters to CBD Product Manufacturers Alleging COVID-19 Benefits
  • Congressional Research Service: Cannabis Banking and the Federal Reserve

Continue Reading Cannabis Legal Report—Week of January 23, 2023

Today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement in its most recent law enforcement action in its ongoing efforts to monitor the marketplace regarding misleading cannabidiol (CBD) product claims. The action targets Kushly Industries LLC (Kushly) and the company’s sole officer for allegedly making false or unsupported health benefit claims about Kushly’s CBD product.
Continue Reading FTC Continues Crackdown on Unsupported CBD Marketing

Today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Operation CBDeceit, a suite of six settlements that herald the FTC’s ongoing efforts to monitor the marketplace regarding misleading cannabidiol (CBD) product claims. In a statement, FTC leadership said the six settlements “send a clear message to the burgeoning CBD industry” to avoid making “spurious health claims that are unsupported by medical science.” The FTC noted that companies, particularly CBD product manufacturers, “that represent expressly or by implication that what they sell can prevent, treat, or cure serious medical conditions will be held to the highest substantiation standards and marketers can expect careful scrutiny of those promises.”
Continue Reading FTC Announces Crackdown on Unsupported CBD Marketing

On March 28, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in sending warning letters to three companies that market products that contain cannabidiol (CBD), which the companies claim can treat a variety of serious physical and mental disorders.

CBD can be added to foods and beverages, and can be synthesized, or derived from either hemp (which is legal at the federal level under the 2018 Farm Bill) or marijuana (which is illegal as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act). The FDA has not yet approved CBD as a food additive, and products containing CBD are currently deemed unsafe under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA has cited deceptive marketing practices as its main concern with respect to products that contain CBD, and has taken the position that selling products that contain CBD through unapproved therapeutic claims is illegal. Between 2015 and 2018, the FDA issued 18 warning letters regarding products containing CBD.  Each of the letters was triggered by drug claims. Ten of the warning letters also challenged adding CBD to dietary supplements, and one warning letter also challenged adding CBD to food. Despite the warning letters, the FDA has not yet undertaken a single enforcement action against a CBD product.
Continue Reading FTC Joins FDA in Sending Warning Letters to Companies Advertising and Selling Products Containing Cannabidiol (CBD) Claiming to Treat Alzheimer’s, Cancer, and Other Diseases