New Jersey State Dispensaries Prohibited From Selling Edibles That Resemble Food Items
Today in cannabis news: Dispensaries in the state of New Jersey are prohibited from selling edibles that resemble food items; a Texas state judge rules that the state’s prohibition on the manufacture and sale of smokable hemp is unconstitutional; and the FDA assures that Iowa’s state medical cannabis statute does not jeopardize federal funding for colleges and universities.
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First up: According to the New Jersey state Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s regulations and requirements, legal cannabis users will be prohibited from buying cannabis brownies, cookies, confections, or any other cannabis-infused edibles that “resemble food.”
The action, which has been on the minds of industry observers for some time, is a setback for consumers and companies hoping to cash in on an increasingly desirable area of the cannabis market.
Cookies and brownies are particularly noted in an official description of the CRC regulations, which indicate that “edible products resembling food are prohibited” from selling in all retail cannabis shops statewide.
“Ingestible forms… shall only include syrups, pills, tablets, capsules, and chewable forms,” the CRC rules add.
However, attempting to oversee how edibles made in a “kitchen environment,” such as baked products, are made necessitates additional requirements that the panel failed to lay out prior to the Aug. 22 deadline established under New Jersey’s legal cannabis statutes to approve a first framework of rules.
Next up: A state district judge ruled this week that Texas’ restriction on the manufacture and distribution of smokable hemp items is unconstitutional.
Judge Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court found in favor of plaintiffs—a collection of hemp companies who sued the Texas Department of State Health Services over a restriction on the manufacture and distribution of smokable hemp items that the authority established after the plant was legalized in 2019.
In a decision letter, Livingston stated that judgment “is granted in favor of the Plaintiffs” without the necessity for additional evidence or proceedings. After counsel delivers final judgments for them to sign, a number of Texas laws restricting hemp production and distribution will be completely overturned.
An appeals court revised a previous order earlier this month, ruling that officials couldn’t impose a prohibition on the retail portion of the smokable hemp sector. However, there is now a permanent injunction banning the state from restricting any forms of hemp business.
Last up: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told Iowa state authorities that colleges and universities will not lose agency funds or contracts if they allow patients to utilize medical cannabis on their premises in accordance with state statute.
Iowa’s Department of Public Health was required by law last year to contact federal agencies seeking exceptions for the state’s medical cannabis system when it came to health and education-focused funds.
Although the agency does not offer funding for long-term care centers, it does “provide federal grants and contracts to academic institutions,” according to a letter dated June 30. “To our knowledge, eligibility for such grant or contract funding would not be affected by the circumstances described in your inquiry,” the FDA said.
To put it another way, colleges that enable patients to consume medicinal cannabis or administer it in accordance with state statute will not forfeit federal funds from the FDA.
Although the FDA has given this guarantee for the time being, many academic institutions have been hesitant to allow patients to utilize medical cannabis regardless of state statute because of the prospect of forfeiting independent Department of Education (DOE) money due to the federal illegality of cannabis.
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