A Wyoming legislative committee killed a bill that would decriminalize Cannabidiol, the non nonpsychoactive component of marijuana.
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CHEYENNE – Despite numerous regulatory hurdles, the use of products made with Cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD, has exploded over the past several years.
According to the Hemp Business Journal, sales of products containing CBD, the “nonpsychoactive” component of marijuana, have exploded more than 1,700 percent since the first state in the U.S. legalized the compound’s use in retail products in 2014. Since then, 17 states have legalized products utilizing CBD compounds, which can be incorporated in anything from homeopathic remedies for joint and muscle pain – like creams and ointments – to over-the-counter products that can ease the effects of serious neurological conditions, like seizures.
Whether or not Wyoming will be among the states to legalize the substance at the end of the 2019 general session, however, is seriously in doubt, after the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday defeated a bill sponsored by Rep. Stan Blake, D-Rock Springs, to decriminalize the substance.
The bill was similar in wording to a similar CBD legalization bill to sneak out of the judiciary committee in last year’s budget session. The bill, which is less than a page long, would allow for adults to possess and use hemp extract as well as authorize a parent or legal guardian to administer hemp extract to a minor or vulnerable adult.
Despite the success of similar legislation last year, the bill died on a 4-4 vote in the nine-person committee, after lawmakers expressed concerns both with marijuana’s federal status as a Schedule 1 controlled substance and law enforcement’s inability to test for the compound, among other concerns. “No” votes included Rep. Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, Rep. Bill Pownall, R-Gillette, Rep. Tim Salazar, R-Dubois, and Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper.
Judiciary committee chairman Dan Kirkbride, who helped a similar bill reach the floor of the House last winter, was not present for Tuesday morning’s vote and did not leave a proxy vote.
Despite being widely available for purchase in Wyoming, CBD products are still technically against the law.
Swaths of Wyomingites, however, have found medicinal uses for the substance, something that has resulted in numerous drug possession arrests for what, by many accounts, is a harmless substance. Under Wyoming’s interpretation of statute, drug possession is evaluated not by THC content, but by the total weight of a product containing THC.
This means that under the law, CBD oil – which only contains trace amounts of the active ingredient found in marijuana – would be treated the same as products like hash oil, wax, and other liquid forms of marijuana.
Lawyer and Rep. Charles Pelkey, D-Laramie, told fellow members of the committee that he had signed onto the bill as a sponsor after seeing several cases in Jackson, Evanston and Gillette where individuals – holding nothing more than a CBD product — were arrested for possession of marijuana in liquid form. Though CBD oil is available commercially in the state, Pelkey has sent letters to retailers warning them of the state’s current interpretations of existing statute, something many consumers of CBD products are not aware of.
Advocates for reform say this should change as CBD – unlike marijuana – cannot be exploited for recreational use and that Wyoming’s policies toward the substance have actually caused them significant hardship. While Wyoming residents can be issued a prescription for CBD products, they require a referral from a neurologist (of which, committee member Sara Burlingame said, there are only 12 across the state).
