Biden Praises Oregon Gov For Cannabis Pardons, FDA Warns CBD Companies Again, Thailand Saga Continues

President Joe Biden praised Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) for following his example and recommendation by pardoning all simple marijuana convictions at the state level.

On Monday, Gov. Brown announced a pardon for prior offenses of simple cannabis possession impacting an estimated 45,000 individuals across the state and to forgive more than $14,000,000 in associated fines and fees.

This comes about six weeks after the White House announced the president will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. In a Tuesday tweet, Biden wrote that all states should follow Oregon’s example.

Oregon is the latest state to pardon all prior offenses of simple marijuana possession, following my pardon of federal offenses and call to Governors to do the same in their states.
It's time to right our failed approach to marijuana. I urge states to follow Oregon's example. https://t.co/5m5aeaDStO

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 22, 2022

The Beaver State Governor, Brown, confirmed on Monday she will pardon prior offenses of simple cannabis possession impacting an estimated 45,000 individuals across the state and will forgive more than $14,000,000 in associated fines and fees.

FDA Warns 5 Companies Illegally Selling CBD-Infused Products

The Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters on Monday to five businesses for illegally selling CBD-infused products.

Warnings were issued to 11-11-11 Brands, Naturally Infused LLC, Newhere Inc. doing business as CBDFX, Infusionz LLC, CBD American Shaman, LLC.

These businesses are selling CBD food and beverages, designing them in a way that they can be mistaken for traditional products. The agency highlighted its concern about CBD-infused products that are attractive to children, such as hard candies, cookies and gummies.

FDA warns companies for illegally selling food and beverage products that contain #CBD. These CBD products in forms that are appealing to children, such as lollipops, gummies, and cookies, are especially concerning.

https://t.co/bNVwItE3BU pic.twitter.com/pyR8GZRLbi

— FDA FOOD (Ctr for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition) (@FDAfood) November 21, 2022

The FDA also noted that there are safety concerns around CBD, with some scientific studies pointing out the connection between CBD and problems with the male reproductive system, such as testicular atrophy or harm to the liver.

“The FDA has not found adequate information showing how much CBD can be consumed, and for how long, before causing harm,” the agency stated in a press release, highlighting children and pregnant women as the most vulnerable populations.

The agency is requesting the five companies respond within 15 working days to try to prove their actions are not in violation of the law. If they fail to address the violations properly, they can expect legal actions against them, including seizure or injunction.

This is far from the first time the agency expressed concerns around both CBD and THC-infused food and beverages.

200 Cannabis Advocates In Thailand Rally Against Reversal Of Marijuana Decriminalization

In 2018, Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalize medical marijuana. Some four years later, it took those cannabis regulations to the next level and became the first in the region to decriminalize marijuana.

Soon thereafter, Thailand was facing harsh criticism, mostly for the lack of cannabis regulations.

A couple of weeks ago, the president of the Forensic Physician Association of Thailand, Smith Srisont petitioned a court to re-list cannabis as a narcotic to address a wave of news reports about hospitalizations and use by children.

"It was wrong to not have governing laws before unlocking cannabis (...) It is not being used medically, but recreationally," Srisont said.

On Monday, the Central Administrative court accepted a lawsuit, which lists Thailand’s health minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) as co-defendants. The political parties who joined the lawsuit trying to revoke the decriminalization order include Move Forward, Pheu Thai, Thai Liberal, Thai People Power and Prachachat parties.

Nutthawut Buaprathum, a co-plaintiff and a member of the Move Forward party, claims it is safer to place cannabis back on the narcotics list until needed laws are established.

“We know that marijuana has a lot of benefits, so we gave full support to decriminalize it. But we did not expect that the Cannabis Act would take this long and that this would cause a lot of negative impacts on society because of no proper laws and regulations,” Nutthawut said.

Now, marijuana advocates are rallying to fight back, reported ABC News. Around 200 cannabis supporters rallied on Tuesday at the Government House in Bangkok, to protest against the possible reversal of the plant’s recent decriminalization.

“We want to ensure that these politicians are not trying to put cannabis on the narcotics list again. If that happens, our fight for years will mean nothing,” Akradej Chakjinda, a coordinator of Cannakin, a network of cannabis decriminalization supporters told The Associated Press.

Photo: Benzinga Edit; Sources: n_defender and Yarygin by Shutterstock and Oregon Department of Transportation and The White House by Wikimedia Commons