WASHINGTON — since blocking government-legal marijuana clinics from obtaining the same relief funds, the Trump’s administration has donated millions inexcusable emergency loans to businesses selling CBD gummies, liquids and vapour cartridges.
According to the Security and Exchange Commission’s filings examined by VICE News, at least three specific CBD vendors received a sum of over $4 million in federal loans during April. Marijuana firms whose brand remains federally illegal were locked out.
The mixed outcome exposes just another oddity of the struggle of the federal government to save American companies from failure with a proven successful and contentious $670 billion Paycheck Insurance Plan, as public anger shamed large national corporations in withdrawing money intended to benefit small companies. The system was established by the $2 trillion CARES Act in March, which intends to protect the US economy from falling into crisis. Such public reports indicate that loans to businesses that market cannabis-derived non-psychotropic chemicals, CBD, maybe even more common than has been documented previously. Only publically traded firms are required to report their loans — and smaller regional CBD vendors may have had loans, but they simply did not reveal them.
The Fortunate Borrowers Involve:
CBDMd. A Charlotte, NC based business that markets tinctures, tablets, gummies, bath bombs, topical creams, animal treats and oils filled with CBD of about $1.5 million in. CV Sciences: $2.9 m. A company based in San Diego, CA which operates the gummies, oils, drops, balms and lotions line PlusCBD. Built for Lifting: A business that markets a wide range of CBD items ranging from vape packets to smokeable pre-rolls, oils and a line of CBD-infused lube of about $150,000 was found.
The discrepancy between how Trump’s Small Business Organization handles government-legal marijuana and Cannabis-focused businesses seems to stem from a statement declared by the Small Business Administration back in 2019.
The agency reported that firms marketing hemp goods, which include very limited quantities of THC, would typically be able to enter financing systems for the organization, while firms selling marijuana would not. Most widely common CBD items are extracted entirely from hemp and include only small amounts of THC, which is the brain-altering chemicals that make marijuana good. Now, the disparity in how cannabis and CBD firms are handled seems to have passed through to the SBA’s PPP loan project, a program that has rescued thousands of small businesses from bankruptcy while causing widespread debate about who got a loan, and who didn’t.
For now, marijuana companies have been stuck in the uncomfortable situation of being barred from the small business loan system of the federal government, despite being deemed “necessary” undertakings in many states.