The holidays are nearly upon us and it is time to think about how to get your holiday gifts to your friends and family living too far away to visit. Gift boxes are always a popular option for that hard to shop for individual, and CBD gift box sets are an ideal gift for many people. But once you purchase your gift box, how do you ship the gift?
FedEx is one of the most shipping options across the country. However, with the expansion of legal marijuana, FedEx has had to alter its policies to adhere to remain compliant with federal regulations.
FedEx's terms of service can be a little difficult to understand. Their terms of service designate a decent-sized portion of text regarding what can be sent using their service. According to their Service Guide, "Marijuana, as defined by U.S. federal law, 21 U.S.C. 802(16), including marijuana intended for recreational or medicinal use and marijuana-derived cannabidiol (“CBD”); any product with a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC") concentration of more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis, except as set out in 21 CFR 1308.35; and synthetic cannabinoids."
They go on to say that "Raw or unrefined hemp plants, or their subparts" are also prohibited.
This is the straightforward part. Here's where it gets tricky. Directly beneath the above regulations reads, "Any substance that has not been approved for a medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and also has been listed as a Drug or Chemical of Concern by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, including, but not limited to, kratom and Salvia divinorum."
To understand how this connects to hemp-derived CBD, we have to take a look at the FDA's stance on CBD products. According to the FDA's website, "FDA has approved Epidiolex, which contains a purified form of the drug substance CBD for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome in patients 1 years of age and older...There are no other FDA-approved drug products that contain CBD."
The FDA website also goes on to state, "Under the FD&C Act, any product intended to have a therapeutic or medical use, and any product (other than a food) that is intended to affect the structure or function of the body of humans or animals, is a drug. Drugs must generally either receive premarket approval by FDA through the New Drug Application (NDA) process or conform to a "monograph" for a particular drug category, as established by FDA's Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drug Review. CBD was not an ingredient considered under the OTC drug review."
Because of the vague nature of FedEx's policy that relies heavily on the FDA's outlook on CBD, you may want to look for another way to send your hemp-derived gifts through the mail. The best course of action to ship a gift containing CBD products is to directly purchase from a retailer's website. Reputable retailers will have jumped through all the legal hoops necessary to remain compliant. Purchasing a CBD gift this way can also take the stress out of shipping (who wants to wait in a long line to mail something anyway?).
This article should not be taken as legal advice. Please consult an attorney for any legal questions or concerns.