As the CBD wave sweeps across the U.S. after the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, the U.S. Navy has come out and warned its personnel to refrain from knowingly using any product made from hemp or CBD as this could jeopardize their standing in this branch of the armed forces.
A press release issued by the Secretary of the Navy says that currently, there are no federal regulations for the CBD and hemp industries. This means that there is no way for navy personnel to be sure about the THC content of a product that they buy even if the label states the ingredients in that product.
Consequently, a sailor who uses those untested products could test positive for marijuana metabolites when a urinalysis is done, and it would be hard to prove that the affected person didn’t willingly consume marijuana.
A positive test, warns the Navy Secretary, carries the risk of being dishonorably discharged from the navy, and that would impact any benefits that one would be eligible for.
The press release also warns sailors to be careful before they believe the therapeutic claims made by some manufacturers of hemp products until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completes studying them and makes a decision about their truthfulness.
Sailors don’t only have to stay clear of hemp and CBD products, but also the stocks of companies making those products, according to the Department of Defense (DoD).
Since marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, members of the armed forces may just have to watch as other people buy stocks in the marijuana companies which are listed on several exchanges.
The position of the DoD is that any member of the armed forces who buys these shares commits a “reportable incident” because holding those shares is considered as participating in drug-related activities. Such activity has the potential to cost contractors, civilians and service members their security clearance issued by the DoD.
The question is, how will the Department of Defense monitor all the mutual funds that service personnel invest in, and how will they prove that personnel knowingly put their money (through a mutual fund) in a marijuana company? The sheer amount of work needed to monitor where all service men and women, as well as all the other people who work for the DoD in some capacity invest their money makes this task nearly impossible to pull off.
The department of defense may therefore restrict itself to taking administrative action against personnel who directly invest in marijuana companies since this is easier to track.
For now, industry analysts believe that CBD industry players like SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING) and Sugarmade Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) will be hoping that the Navy softens its stance on CBD products once the FDA releases its regulations for the industry.
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