City lawmakers are gearing up to fight the Health Department’s ban on the cannabis oil CBD, saying the compound should be treated the same as pot in the debate over legalization.
“We see it as kind of ironic that we are going after CBD while doing a legalization push for marijuana,” said Winthrop Roosevelt, spokesman for City Councilman Mark Levine.
He added that Levine, chair of the council’s Health Committee, is authoring a bill to make CBD legal.
The Health Department announced in February that it was barring all CBD additives in food and drinks sold at restaurants.
A naturally occurring compound found in cannabis, CBD does not have the psychoactive effects of marijuana but is said to provide benefits, including reducing anxiety.
“Little is known about CBD and its safety profile,” city Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot wrote.