Maine authorizes CBD foods after unpopular crackdown

Maine has changed course on CBD foods less than three months after health authorities ordered CBD foods off shelves.

A new law gives CBD manufacturers express permission to add cannabidiol to foods in contravention of federal law, which bans the addition of CBD into the food supply.

Gov. Janet Mills signed the CBD food law Wednesday.

Maine health officials began ordering stores in late January to remove “all foods, tinctures and capsules” containing the extract.

Maine’s ban on CBD in food was immediately unpopular, with state politicians vowing to correct the problem by changing state law to allow CBD foods. The bill passed overwhelmingly.

Colorado last year became the first state to explicitly state that hemp extracts can’t be considered a food adulterant.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly said that CBD can’t go in foods, though the agency generally defers enforcement to state agencies.