CEO/Executive Director
Organic & Natural Health Association
It’s been a year since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, but the legal status of hemp-derived cannabidiol remains in limbo since CBD can be derived from hemp or cannabis. The FDA has only recently started speaking up alarming companies with warnings, but Karen Howard, executive director of Organic & Natural Health Association, says the FDA had the CBD issue at their doorstep last year and avoided dealing with it, which is what has contributed to consumer confusion.
She says some retailers like Amazon are adding to the confusion by hyping hemp to take advantage of the consumer interest in CBD, even though they have a no CBD sale policy. Her organization, Organic & Natural Health Association has tested Amazon’s bestselling hemp product and has found traces of CBD. She says this is misleading to consumers and tells Late Night Health how to cut through the hemp hype when making purchases and six CBD red flags to avoid.
Karen Howard has held a variety of executive positions, including serving as professional staff for a Congressional committee, and has policy expertise in the diverse areas of integrative and complementary medicine, managed care, healthcare technology, and mental health. Her organization advances research to redefine how health care is delivered, provides quality education to inform and empower conscious consumer choice, and advocates for meaningful public policy.You can get stay up-to-date on hemp and CBD news by following:
