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STATE HOUSE–When the Indiana legislature debated making CBD consumption and sale legal in Indiana, one of their main concerns was that the level of THC in the oil, the psychoactive element in hemp, was so low that it couldn’t get you high. An organization pushing for CBD regulation says you cannot be assured of the amount of THC or any other food additive or chemical.

“The FDA just released a report last week that says, we can’t tell you that any of the CBD products are safe except for the one product that has been approved by the FDA, and that’s it,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumer League, a consumer advocacy organization.

Greenberg said one of their surveys shows that 8 in 10 consumers want the CBD products they use to be regulated, so there is more assurance of safety.

“The journal that the American Medical Assoc. puts out found that 7 out of 10 CBD products are inaccurately labeled,” said Greenberg. She said many of the products contain lead, arsenic, herbicides, pesticides and toxic mold.

Greenberg said manufacturers don’t so much add those products as neglect screening the products for additives that may contain those chemicals. They also don’t screen where they source the ingredients from, she said.

The THC, which occurs naturally in hemp plants, also may be one of the chemicals that are left and not detected because of poor and no screening, even though Indiana law calls for there to be no more than a trace of the psychoactive drug present in any CBD product sold here.

“That sounds good on paper, but I’d like to ask the legislature, are you sure that these products that are being sold to consumers as having no THC are really living up to that standard

? It sounds good to say you’re not allowed to sell anything with THC, but who’s vetting that. It gets very little review from state health departments,” said Greenberg.

She said the best way to make sure of what is and is not in CBD products are to only sell regulated products. She is calling for that regulation to start soon.

“It’s a process. But, it’s a worthy process because it makes sure that our food supply is safe. And, the CBD manufacturers haven’t gone through that process.”