CW Hemp extracts briefly on Target.com
The retail chain changed its mind, and DEA considers the products to be illegal.
CBD made it to the big leagues of retail — albeit briefly.
CW Hemp, the Denver-based company that bottled up Charlotte’s Web cannabidiol-rich oil, landed a selection of its hemp-derived extracts on Target.com, CW Hemp announced Thursday morning.
But by Thursday afternoon, the CW Hemp products were no longer to be found on the Minneapolis-based retail giant’s website.
The Denver Post had verified earlier Thursday that Target’s e-commerce site listed four CW Hemp products — hemp capsules and oils.
The products, which could also be accessed with a search for “CBD oil,” were shown under the herbal supplements category. However, by the early afternoon, the searches for “CW Hemp” returned with: “no results found.”
In an emailed statement, a Target spokeswoman said:
“We started carrying Charlotte’s Web hemp extract items last week on Target.com. After further review, we have decided to remove it from our assortment.”
Officials at CW Hemp did not respond for comment.
While nabbing a spot on Target.com would be considered a win for most fledgling consumer products companies, the move to sell products that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration views as illegal is bold, if not practically brazen, industry and drug policy experts said before Target ceased sales of CW Hemp products.
“It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which this is legal,” said John Hudak, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who specializes in drug policy issues, when reached Thursday morning.
The DEA has made it clear that CBD and other cannabis-derived extracts are Schedule I substances, Hudak said.
Sales of cannabis-derived products could be allowed under certain state-based marijuana programs; however, selling such products across state lines is illegal, he said.
“This may be an example of Target, a large corporation, standing up to the federal government and sort of challenging them to push back,” he said. “Target is not asking for permission here; they may be in a position to ask for forgiveness.”
In a statement issued early Thursday, CW Hemp officials touted Target’s pick-up of the extracts as hemp-derived CBD “going mainstream.”
The sale of nonpsychoactive, hemp-derived extracts on the mass-market stage comes at a time when the legality of such products has been put into question. The DEA has stated that extracts derived from cannabis — be it industrial hemp or marijuana — are federally illegal, Schedule I substances.