Balanced Health Botanicals Newsletter – March

Survey finds most parents would use CBD for their child.

The University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that 73% of parents think CBD may be a good option for children when other medications don’t work. The poll also revealed how much more education work there is to do: 46% said they either didn’t know much about CBD use in children or had never heard of it prior to the poll (34%). Learn more here.

Third CBD citizen petition filed with FDA.

The Natural Products Association filed a petition asking that CBD be excluded from the definition of a supplement in response to the agency’s long-held view that CBD cannot be marketed in dietary supplements because it was first studied as a drug by GW Pharmaceuticals. The FDA has yet to respond substantively to three similar petitions filed by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (2019) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) in 2020. Find out more at Natural Products Insider.

U.S. Hemp Roundtable issues recommendations for new FDA head.

Upon the confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as commissioner, the organization called for more enforcement and clarity:

"Commissioner Califf could exercise existing authority to apply the same regulations to hemp as it does for all other dietary supplements and food and beverage additives. Doing so would take a small step towards restoring public trust in the agency." More here.

NFL gives $1M for research into cannabinoids and pain management.

The National Football League awarded the funding to research teams at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The studies will explore cannabinoids’ effect on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players. Get the details here. 

UK funds research into treating long COVID with cannabis.

The country’ National Health Service (NHS) Research Ethics Committee and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved one of the world’s first scientific studies to test the benefits of cannabis for patients suffering long COVID. This follows early-stage cell and animal research that suggests CBDGA and CBDA could help fight the virus. Read more at Vice. 

USDA releases ‘benchmark’ national hemp survey results.

The crop reached $824 million in 2021, according to the first-ever federal survey on the industry. U.S. Hemp Roundtable general counsel Jonathan Miller said it and other reports “are demonstrating a steep decline in hemp production and commodity prices nationwide,” due to the lack of regulatory framework for CBD products and burdensome testing requirements. Learn more here.