Medical Marijuana, CBD, Hemp, What’s the Difference? [VIDEO]

101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Matt Parker talks about the latest developments the the legalization and availability of CBD (cannabidiol) products, medical marijuana and the growing of commercial hemp in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco has just issued its first permits for the legal sale of CBD products. Those were approved by the FDA earlier this year and legalized by the state legislature during their just completed session.

Medicinal marijuana, which was made legal by Louisiana lawmakers almost five years ago, has yet to go on the market because of a number of bureaucratic delays which, according to the state's Department of Agriculture, are related to product safety.

Meanwhile the growth of industrial hemp (a strain of the cannabis sativa plant) was also legalized by the legislature as part recently passed CBD legislation. There is no specific time frame for its production, as the plant is also under the aegis of the Agriculture Department and Commissioner Mike Strain, who said recently that "the (hemp) industry will need a tremendous amount of regulation."