{"id":8604,"date":"2019-01-05T01:10:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-05T01:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3317087"},"modified":"2019-01-05T01:10:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-05T01:10:58","slug":"facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook takes a mulligan after disabling accounts of some hemp businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>A Fort Collins business that produces and markets hemp-oil-infused products is one of several across the country that recently had its Facebook page shut down after the social media giant said the page violated its policy against promoting\u00a0prescription pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2988538\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_third\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses.jpg\" width=\"5760\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/facebook-takes-a-mulligan-after-disabling-accounts-of-some-hemp-businesses.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/3bda7410f62041dbbf47cf0088e798a6.jpg?fit=210%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 210w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Thibault Camus, Associated Press file<\/p>\n<p>Facebook says it is looking into concerns that pages of companies that make hemp products were shut down unnecessarily.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The shutdown, which started Dec. 20, came as Joy Organics is preparing to launch a new line of skin-care products.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought it was just a silly mistake or misunderstanding or something like that,\u201d said Hannah Smith, communications director for the company started by her mother, Joy Smith.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Facebook said Friday that it was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe mistakenly removed pages for hemp and CBD oil that do not violate our policies, and we are currently working to restore these pages,\u201d the company said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>And late Friday afternoon, Joy Organics\u2019 main Facebook page was once again working.<\/p>\n<p>Joy Organics\u2019 products are made with\u00a0cannabidiol oil (CBD) from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/11\/20\/hemp-taking-off-as-viable-product-and-colorado-entrepreneurs-at-the-forefront-of-industry\/\">hemp<\/a>.\u00a0The hemp plant is in the cannabis family but has\u00a0negligible amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said the company had found Facebook\u2019s action especially puzzling because the new federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/12\/13\/colorado-hemp-farm-bill-impacts\/\">farm bill<\/a> approved in December legalized production of hemp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were celebrating the farm bill going through,\u201d Smith said. \u201cOur hopes were that it would create more legitimacy and safety in the business. And then to be shut down (by Facebook) was definitely a shock for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After Facebook denied Joy Organics\u2019 appeal, Smith said she tried to find out if other businesses were having problems. She heard of a company in Kentucky facing the same issue. There were reports of businesses in <a href=\"https:\/\/carolinacannabisnews.com\/hemp-store-facebook-pages-removed-part-of-trend-in-cannabis-industry\/\">North Carolina<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/weehemp.com\/blogs\/news\/facebook-has-shut-the-wee-hemp-co-down-wee-are-not-the-only-ones\">United Kingdom<\/a>\u00a0having their accounts cut off.<\/p>\n<p>In late November, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/news\/marijuana\/2018\/11\/30\/why-are-instagram-and-facebook-shutting-down-these-massachusetts-marijuana-dispensaries-accounts\/YSHGIkgfNZshqEsnIqr1DN\/story.html\">Boston Globe<\/a> reported that at least six Massachusetts marijuana dispensaries had their Instagram accounts cut off. Instagram said it has a policy against offering\u00a0\u201cillegal or prescription drugs\u201d even if they\u2019re legal locally.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook owns Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe appreciate that those on Facebook\u2019s policy team have recognized their mistake, and we hope they will rectify the situation quickly for all the CBD businesses that have been affected by this misunderstanding,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>While Joy Organics\u2019 main Facebook page was disabled, pages for its stores in Austin, Texas, and Deer Park, Ill., still worked.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney Shawn Hauser called the disabling of the Facebook and Instagram accounts \u201cout-of-bounds.\u201d Hauser, with the\u00a0Vicente Sederberg law firm, which specializes in marijuana and hemp issues, said she had heard of other businesses selling CBD products losing access to the social media accounts.<\/p>\n<p>After conducting trials, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/newsevents\/newsroom\/pressannouncements\/ucm611046.htm\">U.S. Food and Drug Administration<\/a> last year approved CBD derived from marijuana for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy. Hauser said once a substance is studied as a drug and the results are made public, it can\u2019t be marketed as food or a dietary supplement. She said the FDA\u2019s interpretation of CBD as a drug appears to be the rationale for Facebook flagging accounts offering the hemp products.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related left\" \/>\n<p>However, there are questions about how to treat CBD oil derived from hemp and about products marketed before the FDA\u2019s drug trials, Hauser said. The FDA has said it is looking into various issues as hemp production and interest in CBD products expand, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Hemp has been an agricultural product for several centuries and was one of the first plants to be used for fiber. After passage of the\u00a0Controlled Substances Act of 1970,\u00a0hemp\u00a0was no longer officially recognized as distinct from marijuana, according to the Hemp Industries Association.<\/p>\n<p>The new farm bill\u00a0shifts hemp from classification as a controlled substance to a crop regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states and tribes. But the bill doesn\u2019t affect regulation by the FDA, which says it has to approve any cannabis product, including hemp-derived, that claims to have health benefits before it can be part of interstate commerce.<\/p>\n<p>The law is evolving, Hauser said. Her firm works with companies to ensure that their marketing complies with the law, she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it\u2019s really not Facebook\u2019s role to police and enforce federal food and drug laws,\u201d Hauser said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>A Fort Collins business that produces and markets hemp-oil-infused products is one of several across the country that recently had its Facebook page shut down after the social media giant said the page violated its policy against promoting\u00a0prescription pharmaceuticals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,531,52,330,6811,910,7153,1689,55,8033,6813,77,9,5019,6845,7276,1,3,7309,61,1736],"tags":[5063,3105,2632,2908,6816,3481,7155,4257,2635,8051,6818,2655,5022,6846,7278,7312],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}