Many Americans today are at least a little bit aware of the benefits that CBD can bring not just to people suffering from certain medical conditions such as epileptic syndromes and cancer, but to regular people too as a natural alternative to regular pain medication for chronic pain and a relief to the stress and anxiety of daily life.
These products are so popular, in fact, that most Americans today advocate for the full legalization of recreational marijuana, of which CBD is a component of. However, that enthusiasm has yet to reach the governments of a few select states that still hold strict regulation of both marijuana and CBD.
While Michigan is absolutely not the worst in terms of CBD regulation, it is also not one of the most liberal states for it. So, let us dive into it. Is CBD legal in Michigan?
What is CBD?
Due to its rising popularity, it is important to understand what CBD is and where it comes from. A lot of people conflate CBD and marijuana together, and although they have a lot of things in common, they are also severely different.
CBD (or cannabidiol) is a component of marijuana. It is the cannabis plant’s second most prevalent cannabinoid. However, the effects of CBD have one major difference from marijuana - they do not provide you the stereotypical psychoactive effects that you get from marijuana and its THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol) component. CBD also features little to no side effects.
Another major difference is that CBD can be extracted from both the marijuana and the hemp plant, meaning that it can get around legality issues surrounding marijuana plants if you simply extract it from the hemp plant.
The hemp plant typically contains only trace amounts of THC, which is the substance that is considered psychoactive in marijuana and the main justification people use for keeping cannabis sativa banned.
CBD, however, is a non-intoxicating substance. Furthermore, it has also been known to provide several significant health benefits for both people who suffer from hard conditions and people who do not. CBD has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-anxiety, and anti-seizure properties.
It has been shown to help with many conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, mood disorders, and other conditions.
Why Is CBD Sometimes Illegal?
It all started with the 1970 Federal Controlled Substances Act. This legislation was the beginning of a lot of the laws we see today regarding certain substances, but for CBD, it meant a big ban on any of its products - even though the justification for it seemed shaky, since CBD obtained from hemp strains contains almost no amount of THC, which is the substance the federal government was worried caused addiction, abuse, and health issues.
This means that after this, CBD and its cannabis cousins were made illegal for being a Schedule I substance. This only slightly changed federally in 2018, when the Hemp Farming Act was signed by Donald Trump. This legislation essentially made the cultivation of industrial hemp legal on a federal level, which also meant we now had a way to distinguish between hemp and marijuana.
As of today, hemp is defined as cannabis that features less than 0.3 percent of THC by weight, while marijuana is now defined as cannabis that contains more than that alloted amount of THC. The latter is still considered a Schedule I controlled substance.
Finally, this law also made it so that the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) was able to come in to regulate the use and promotion of CBD derived from hemp. However, the FDA has not come out with strict guidelines on how to promote and label CBD and CBD products, other than that it must absolutely not be used in food, beverages, cosmetic products and dietary supplements.
This means that there is a fair amount of confusion on a federal level of what and how CBD must be treated. At the same time, while there are some federal guidelines and regulations, it is ultimately up to the individual states to choose how to regulate themselves. This is why articles like these are important, because wherever you might find yourself in the United States, the regulations surrounding marijuana and CBD may vary wildly.
This new law has provided new guidelines on how the production and sale of hemp and hemp products must go, but in the end, it does allow for each state to individually choose what legislation they would like to keep or add in regards to CBD. This means that there are some states in which hemp products might be outright banned, still.
How Legal Is Marijuana And CBD At The Federal Level?
We have talked about how CBD is in a way, legal at the federal level, due to the US government's loosening of regulation surrounding hemp and hemp products. This, again, unfortunately means very little considering that it allows for every state to decide for themselves whether or not to agree with the federal government, go further in deregulating it, or ban it completely.
The case for marijuana is completely different. Marijuana is still fully illegal at the federal level (although it has been legalized in many places for medical marijuana patients) and it is still considered a Schedule I substance with high potential for abuse and addiction as well as little to no medical benefit.
However, this seems to be slowly changing - most Americans today believe the federal government should legalize marijuana country-wide, and last year the MORE (Marijuana Reinvestment and Expungement) Act was passed by the House of Representatives, although this is unlikely to ever pass in the Senate, unfortunately.
How Legal Is Marijuana And CBD In Michigan?
Michigan is absolutely not one of the stricter states when it comes to CBD. It allows for CBD derived from hemp, which was made legal federally in 2018, but it also allows for CBD derived from marijuana, which many states still do not allow to this day.
As we mentioned in the previous section, in 2018, the Hemp Farm Bill was passed by congress, making hemp and its production and farming legal in the entire United States. As we also saw before, this allowed for states to decide on their own what they wanted their hemp laws to be from then on. CBD that is derived from marijuana is still illegal on a federal level.
The state government of Michigan made it legal not only to derive CBD from hemp with the Michigan Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act but also from the marijuana plant with the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.
This has made it so that every legal-aged person (meaning 21 years old or older) is able to legally possess CBD, CBD oil, CBD gummies, CBD tinctures, CBD topicals and other CBD-related products. While CBD from a marijuana plant is now legal in Michigan, you are still only allowed to purchase THC products with a valid Michigan Medical Marijuana card, since no CBD product currently on the market should not contain more than trace amounts of THC.
Although Michigan’s laws loosening to include CBD derived from marijuana is undoubtedly a good thing, it is important to note that since marijuana products remain illegal for recreational use federally and in a lot of states, such as Florida and others, you should be very careful traveling with these kinds of products to avoid unnecessary legal risk.
Since according to federal law, these products are illegal, you can not have them in any federally owned or operated land, such as national parks, federal buildings, and so on.
Similarly, if you are traveling, then you might find that each state has different regulations on the CBD products you purchased in Michigan. It is important to look them up before you leave your state, as you may get caught possessing something you legally purchased, yet you now illegally have.
Will You Get Arrested For Possessing CBD Products In Another State?
The answer is, it really just depends on the state, but you should really avoid taking unnecessary risks if you can. Obviously this may be especially hard if you have a difficult condition that requires you to have CBD at the ready whenever you can, but if you are able to preemptively avoid the risk, you most definitely should, as police have been known to arrest even grandmothers for possession of what is essentially a glorified pain medication.
If you do choose to travel with your CBD products, make sure to read up on the laws of different states, and make sure you get the best CBD products from high-quality, state-licensed dispensaries and CBD retailers, where they will be labelled properly, in order to avoid any legal confusion.
Can I Use CBD Products Without Violating Probation?
If you are purchasing accepted and licensed CBD products, then they should contain such little amounts of THC that they would be untraceable in a drug test. This means that you would be able to purchase and use them while on probation since you will not be at risk of failing a drug test.
However, it is important to check which products you are buying and whether they truly feature less than 0.3 percent THC, because if you accidentally ingest something that does contain THC, even if you did not mean to, then you will be at risk for failing your drug test and getting yourself into further legal worries.
What Are The Licensing Requirements For CBD?
If you want to be able to grow and sell CBD, then you may apply for a license with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development under the Michigan Industrial Hemp Ag-Pilot Program. You can choose to be a grower and handle the agricultural process, or you can choose to be a processor or handler, who will get it ready to be sold in the market.
These are separate licenses so make sure you apply for the correct one. If you do choose to apply, please note that you may not have any felony drug convictions within the past ten years. Here are the other requirement for the application for these licenses:
- You have to provide maps that detail all locations where your industrial hemp will be grown, handled, stored, processed, brokered, or marketed
- You have to provide a check or a money order which is made payable to the State of Michigan for all of the applicable licensing and registration fees (if you are applying to be a grower, the fee will be $100, while if you are applying to be a processor/handler your fee will be $1350)
- You have to provide a printed copy of a criminal background check that is processed through the Michigan State Police Internet Criminal History Access Tool (iCHAT)
If you are applying to become a grower, then you also must submit samples of your hemp to the government, so they can test whether the THC content is truly above the 0.3 percent limit. You can have it tested up to three different times; however, if you fail to reach the limit for a third time, then your crop will be confiscated and it will be destroyed.
What Are The Michigan CBD Possession Limits?
If your CBD is derived from hemp, then Michigan has set no possession limits for you. If, however, your CBD is derived from cannabis, then it gets a little bit more complicated. While there are technically no possession limits for the CBD itself, there are indeed limits for possession of cannabis.
This means that if you are carrying over 2.5 ounces and less than 5 ounces, then you will be charged with a civil infraction and you will have to pay a fine of up to 500 dollars. If you are caught with more than five ounces, however, then you will be charged with a misdemeanor and you will pay a fine, again, of up to 500 dollars.
Where Do You Buy CBD In Michigan?
There are several places where you can buy CBD and CBD products in Michigan, and not just in places like Detroit, Ann Arbor and other big cities. Mainly, you will find CBD products in both CBD stores and health shops, as well as licensed retailers. If you are uncertain about whether a shop sells CBD, you can ask its employees or check for their licenses online.
You will also be able to purchase CBD online in an online store that will deliver straight to your address. However, you should be especially careful about purchasing these products online as you will not have the guidance of an employee to tell you how much is too much to take, so read up on that beforehand if you can.
Final Verdict
Buying CBD in Michigan is not too complicated, since is actually a very liberal state when it comes to CBD regulation. It has allowed farmers to extract this chemical from both hemp and marijuana, which is not something every state was prepared to do.
Although this loosening of regulations may mean that you have to do a bit more research before you travel to another state or go into federal land, it has been an absolute godsend to the people that CBD helps every day. We hope that soon, the rest of the country follows their lead!