Acting FDA chief calls CBD regulations a ‘stalemate’

The acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says she’s “not sure” how to resolve a “stalemate” over calls for the agency to regulate over-the-counter CBD.

Dr. Janet Woodcock was asked about CBD regulations last week at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association’s conference in Maryland.

“In my reading,” she said, “the law is fairly clear about this, and so it puts us in a stalemate position.

“We also need additional data on the safety of lower doses and how that might be controlled, say, in the supplement market. How could you manage exposure of consumers?”

Woodcock told the CHPA that the prescription CBD drug approved in 2018, Epidiolex, “has some toxicities, but again it’s used at a certain level to control serious disease, so that tradeoff is acceptable.”

“That kind of tradeoff may not be acceptable for your average consumers taking it for other reasons.”

Woodcock has been FDA’s acting commissioner since January. A permanent FDA chief hasn’t been nominated by President Joe Biden.

Natural Products Insider first reported Woodcock’s CBD remarks.