CVS, the largest drugstore chain in the US, is now selling CBD products.
According to a statement from the company, CVS stores in eight states are already stocked with cannabidiol topicals, sprays, and salves, thanks to a partnership with cannabis company Curaleaf Holdings Inc. Soon, CVS will have CBD items in approximately 800 stores, with plans to expand even further.
The business relationship appears promising for both parties. Curaleaf saw its stock price jump 17 percent on Thursday, bumping its market value to a cool $2.6 billion. At the time of this writing, CVS’s stock climbed about 2 percent since the announcement.
“We have partnered with CBD product manufacturers that are complying with applicable laws and that meet CVS’s high standards for quality,” said a spokesperson from CVS.
The CVS announcement looks legit, too, unlike the faux Walgreens pot hype in 2016.
Back then, some news outlets inaccurately reported that Walgreens would offer cannabis products. The confusion came from a Walgreens blog post which mentioned medical uses for cannabis, but the company had no real plans to sling weed.
CBD currently wallows in a strange legal limbo. The DEA has claimed that all non-FDA approved CBD products fall under Schedule I, the most restrictive classification for drugs. However, hemp, the source for much of the nation’s CBD, was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill late last year.
Federal agencies, including the US Postal Service, are still figuring out how to regulate CBD products derived from hemp. Outgoing FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said it may take years for the administration to craft new rules for CBD.
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