In the latest development, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has taken a decisive step by issuing an order prohibiting products containing CBD, a non-intoxicant, and synthetic, high-concentration forms of psychoactive THC. The agency has also implemented labeling restrictions for edible hemp products to emphasize the bans.
Sandra Craig, Director of the DEHC’s Division of Food and Lead Risk Assessments, highlighted the agency’s commitment to both education and regulation in the realm of manufacturers and distributors dealing with foods and beverages containing hemp-derived ingredients. She stated in a letter announcing the bans, “While DHEC’s goal is to educate while we regulate this growing niche of manufacturers and distributors of foods and beverages containing hemp-derived products as ingredients, our obligation under the requirements of both federal and state law is to remove from commerce all food and beverage products containing non-conforming hemp-derived products as ingredients.”
The decision to ban CBD itself in South Carolina represents one of the more stringent measures taken by officials across the United States. Although CBD continues to be available in many states due to a lack of clarity in federal regulations, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has consistently cautioned that products containing CBD are illegal under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Despite repeated warnings from the FDA that adding CBD to food renders those products adulterated, the agency has yet to establish concrete rules.
In South Carolina, the list of substances not permitted in food or beverage products extends beyond CBD and includes pure CBD isolate, delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC, delta-10 THC, THC-0, or any other derivative. While certain THC compounds naturally occur in trace amounts in hemp plants, unscrupulous producers have exploited a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp and most of its derivatives. This has allowed them to create highly concentrated concoctions through a synthetic process and market them as “legal” downstream hemp products.
Photo by: Andrew Shelley
