FDA Sends Warning Letters to Three Online CBD Sellers

The federal Food and Drug Administration last month sent letters to three companies selling CBD on the Internet, warning them that their products violate federal laws. The letters, dated Mar. 28, were sent to PotNetwork Holdings which runs DiamondCBD.com; Nutra Pure LLC, which runs CBDPure.com; and Advanced Spine and Pain LLC, which does business as Relievus.

Among its claims, the agency accuses the PotNetwork and Nutra Pure of unsubstantiated advertising claims related to CBD marketing, and Relievus of selling unapproved new and misbranded drugs for humans and animals in addition to unsubstantiated advertising claims.

Each of the companies market their CBD products – salves, gummies, capsules – as a “dietary supplement”; however, the FDA says they have concluded “based on available evidence that CBD products are excluded from the dietary supplement definitions” outlined by federal regulations. The letters point to GW Pharmaceuticals’ CBD product Epidiolex as evidence CBD is a drug, therefore cannot be a dietary supplement.

In the letters, the FDA points out that it’s unlawful to make claims that a product prevents, treats, or cures human, or animal, diseases without “reliable scientific evidence.”

“The FTC is concerned that one or more of the efficacy claims cited above may not be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence,” each letter states.

As of Wednesday, the websites for CDBPure and DiamondCBD – which both feature FDA disclosures that CBD products are not meant to treat or cure any disease – remained online and operational. The website for Relievus had been taken offline.

Last week, the FDA announced they would be holding a hearing in May “to obtain scientific data and information about the safety, manufacturing, product quality, marketing, labeling, and sale of products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds.”