That Bill explicitly “descheduled” hemp---a less potent strain of cannabis.
Dr. Lewis A. Grossman 19, Professor of Law at the American University Washington College of Law, PhD from Yale, JD from Harvard, BA from Yale, January 2019, “Life, Liberty, [and the Pursuit of Happiness]: Medical Marijuana Regulation in Historical Context,” Food and Drug Law Journal, Vol. 74, pp. 313-314, Lexis, kav
The most dramatic federal actions regarding cannabis during the Trump Era occurred in 2018. First, the FDA approved a cannabis-derived CBD drug [*314] (Epidiolex(R)) for certain forms of epilepsy. 199Then, with the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (the "Farm Act"), Congress embraced a new, bifurcated approach to regulating cannabis in general. 200 While preserving the Schedule I status of "marihuana" under the Controlled Substances Act, the 2018 Farm Act deschedules "hemp," which it defines as Cannabis sativa L. containing no more than 0.3 percent THC (the principal psychoactive cannabinoid). The statutory definition of "hemp" does not, however, similarly limit the amount of CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid widely studied and used for its medical (including psychological) effects. Moreover, because the Farm Act's dispensation for hemp covers derivatives of the plant--including "cannabinoids"--the statute effectively deschedules CBD derived from hemp. Congress thus opened the floodgates to the current deluge of hemp and CBD products marketed directly to consumers as dietary supplements, foods, cosmetics, and even drugs. In the FDA's view, almost all of these products remain illegal under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, but the agency remains uncertain about how to exercise its regulatory power in this area. 201