Federal Regulators to Refund $21k Worth of CBD Purchases Due to Misleading Health Claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced it will refund consumers for CBD products that made misleading medical claims, Marijuana Moment reports. The agency said it will be refunding 576 people approximately $36 each, totaling $21,000, for products sold by Kushly Industries LLC.

The action appears to be related to a 2021 complaint filed by the FTC that claimed the Arizona-based company said CBD could cure everything from acne to cancer, the report says.

The FTC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have largely taken a hands-off approach to misleading CBD labeling, making this a first-of-its-kind refund by the FTC.

“Consumers will receive either a PayPal payment or a check in the mail. The deadline for consumers to cash their checks is November 22, 2022. PayPal payments must be claimed by September 23, 2022.” — FTC statement via Marijuana Moment

The actions come two years after the FTC began investigating six CBD companies for making false claims. The operation, named CBDeceit, did not include Kushly, however. Additionally, the FDA has stepped up its enforcement of cannabinoids, sending out five warning letters to companies selling delta-8 THC and four others to CBD companies making false claims about animals and CBD.

Congressional pressure has been mounting for FDA Commissioner Robert Califf to do more to regulate the CBD industry. He did recognize in a recent hearing that the agency has not regulated CBD as well as perhaps they should have, but said Congress could make it easier for the agency to make the rules.