Last month, Ben & Jerry's encouraged customers to get friendly with marijuana and "get blunt about justice." Now, it wants in on the CBD-infused food trend.
"CBD-infused ice cream is (maybe, hopefully) coming to a freezer near you," officials with the Vermont-based ice creamery posted on its Instagram page Thursday.
But it needs public support. Ben & Jerry's is asking customers to file a comment to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressing their views on CBD by Tuesday, July 2, as the agency considers the future of the naturally occurring compound.
"You probably already know that we're fans of all things groovy," officials with the company said in a press release. "So it's no surprise that we can't wait to get into the latest food trend: cannabidiol, or CBD."
Cannabidiol (or CBD) is a non-intoxicating compound with various medical uses. Derived from hemp, CBD is a cousin of the popular marijuana plant. Legal CBD can have no more than 0.3% THC (the main active ingredient of cannabis), and medical marijuana oil may contain up to 5% THC.
Unlike the marijuana molecule delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), CBD isn’t psychoactive, meaning it doesn’t give users a high.
According to a previous AJC report, "while pot remains illegal in most states, CBD, for the most part, is legal." Georgia law allows hemp farming and CBD oil sales, but it's still illegal to add CBD to food and drinks in the state.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/CPEHEMYETVGMXPGPMRCU32QFJM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V2LHQ3SVK5DWNA7NL7MLKJ5MQ4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SKXSLKHT3FB3NPORZ37MOTANTI.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/IECLZ25KHBB2RL4UE2PRALJAZA.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/YDTPPVXIA5GRDKQOJPT3E72GFU.jpg)