Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has announced manufacturing or selling oil extracted from hemp plants is illegal in Wisconsin, but that interpretation of the law is being criticized by a Republican state lawmaker and distributors who say it will hurt people suffering from pain and seizures.
Cannabidiol oil, commonly called CBD oil, can be extracted either from marijuana plants or its non-intoxicating cousin hemp. Pure CBD oil doesn’t include the psychoactive ingredient THC that produces the high commonly associated with marijuana and is used to treat seizures and chronic pain.
A May 4 press release from Schimel’s office said the DOJ and the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center released an unclassified analytical note in response to questions from law enforcement agencies on the legality of CBD oil. Schimel’s statement said possession of CBD oil and associated products are illegal unless prescribed by a physician. The statement also said it was only legal for a physician or a pharmacy to sell CBD if they have an “investigational drug permit and approval from the Wisconsin Controlled Substances Board.”
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In an interview with Wisconsin Eye, Schimel said the note from DOJ was in response to reports of children getting high from CBD oil that contained THC.
“We just need to make sure that this isn’t being sold at the corner gas station, that we have some idea what’s in the CBD oil because we have gotten complaints that there are people who have purchased it for use on their children who have seizures and their children are getting impaired because of it, because it doesn’t have the THC removed,” said Schimel.
The attorney general’s announcement comes more than two years after state lawmakers passed two bills aimed at legalizing CBD oil as an option to treat seizures in children. It comes five months after Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill to legalize hemp production and processing in Wisconsin.
State Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, criticized Schimel’s CBD stance in a press release of his own. Testin was a co-author of the bill legalizing hemp, and he said one of the goals of the legislation was to make hemp-related products like CBD oil a legal option for parents treating children suffering from seizures or adults suffering from chronic pain. He also said DOJ’s timing was detrimental to farmers who are in the process of getting state approval to grow hemp.
“These actions have the potential to damage farmers, curb investment in our state, and hurt people who are using a non-psychoactive product to treat pain and illness,” said Testin. “While our state faces an opioid crisis, we should be looking to embrace alternatives — not shutting them down with bureaucracy.”
Testin said he planned to join Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation officials in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with the DOJ to discuss the agency’s stance that hemp farmers can’t produce CBD oil.
The DOJ’s announcement was also criticized by businesses that sell CBD products.
Jennifer Helmer, a herbalist at Community Pharmacy in Madison, said people need to understand the difference between CBD oil made from marijuana and oil made from hemp. Helmer said CBD made from hemp has very little chance of containing high amounts of THC because state and federal laws demand that hemp not have concentrations of THC above 0.3 percent by dry weight.
“If they forced us to stop, we would, but I definitely believe we would take it to court,” said Helmer. “One of our companies is very passionate and being a big advocate and they would send lobbyists in our state and have the law clarified.”
At a press event at Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire, Walker was asked about the current legal limbo for CBD in Wisconsin. He said state lawmakers might need to revisit the issue through legislation.
“If it takes another tweak to the law, I think there’s more than enough support from Democrats and Republicans to make that change,” said Walker.
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seeks to clarify the legality of hemp and CBD extracts in the U.S.
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