Sip your CBD drink with caution, FDA says
While companies see growth, U.S. regulators have their reservations
Daniel Lopez drinks the hemp CBD beverage Vybes to help him during his shift as a coffee manager in downtown Orlando, Fla. “It gives me more focus to get through it,” the 27-yearold said. “If I didn’t sleep well the night before, I’d rather drink (Vybes) than an energy drink. When you drink an energy drink, you just go high and then you crash.”
The coffee shop and bar where Lopez works, Craft & Common, carries the beverage. It is one of more than 15 spots in Central Florida where Vybes is now distributed by Orlando-based Sunshine State Distributing.
Companies see CBD beverages as a growth opportunity following the 2018 Farm Bill’s elimination of hemp from marijuana’s definition in the Controlled Substances Act as well as a new Florida law that made hemp legal in the state. It is defined as having a 0.3 per cent or less concentration of the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the euphoria-inducing compound in marijuana.
Still, even a small amount of THC could potentially trigger a positive drug test conducted by an employer or law enforcement. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking at regulations for CBD as well as how it affects human health.
“It’s a huge growth market around the country, and we felt that we are small enough and agile enough to find those opportunities,” said Chris Larue, president of Sunshine State Distributing. “We think the CBD beverage category could be as big as the energy drink category.”
His company is not only distributing the Los Angelesbased Vybes, and offers flavours such as blueberry mint and peach ginger, but has also recently agreed to distribute Central Florida-based Elev8’s hemp CBD-infused lemon iced tea and hemp CBD-infused iced coffee. Both companies state their products are THC free.
In addition to the ready-todrink beverages, Elev8, which has warehouse space in a Longwood industrial park and an office in Orlando, also makes packaged hemp coffee and tea. Elev8 CEO Ryan Medico said the company started because he loved coffee and saw an opportunity.
“It’s a huge market,” he said. “It’s up and coming.”
Vybes founder Jonathan Eppers said he never anticipated CBD would explode in the way it has.
“I think we live in a time when people are feeling more and more anxious and stressed,” he said. The FDA has approved one cannabis-derived drug, Epidiolex, that requires a prescription and is used to treat seizures. It has also approved three other “cannabis-related” drugs that require prescriptions.
The FDA states on its website there may be some products that add CBD to food or label CBD as a health supplement even though it is illegal under federal law to market CBD that way. Vybes and Elev8 don’t make health claims about their products.
The administration is evaluating regulations, including if legislation is needed, for cannabisderived products like CBD meant for non-medicinal uses.
“The information we have underscores the need for further study and high quality, scientific information about the safety and potential uses of CBD,” the FDA states on its website.
Orlando Health Dr. Benjamin Kaplan, a state-approved prescriber of medical marijuana who is not actively prescribing, stresses that CBD users should be cautious. “CBD is an active ingredient that can affect your body,” he said. “I would talk to your doctor before taking these sorts of chemicals.”
Both Elev8 and Vybes state their beverages contain no THC. Eppers and Medico both said their products use CBD that is extracted and isolated from the rest of the plant.