Study: Majority of CBD Businesses Are Operating in FDA ‘Gray Area’

By
HeadQuest

More than 90 percent of CBD companies are operating in the “FDA gray area,” meaning that their products don’t have approvals from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have a fair chance of being rejected by the federal agency in the future.

Among the over 2,000 cannabis-related businesses and investment deals tracked by market researcher CB Insights,only four percent of the money is held by companies clearly operating within FDA guidelines. On the other end of the spectrum, an equal share of funding is held by companies clearly violating FDA guidelines.Some companies attempt to get around possible regulatory hurdles by avoiding direct involvement with cannabis while still making a profit from this business.

Recent Stories

Recent Articles

WIC Image
By
Emily Long
Women’s History Month Spotlight
Even without the representation and recognition they deserve, women have always been at the center of the cannabis movement.
glass banner
By
Matt Weeks
The Glass Ceiling
There are objects Americans buy because they need them, and objects Americans buy because they let them be a certain kind of person. A perfectly functional version exists, usually for a fraction of the price. But the other version comes with a name, a story, and a reason to pay extra.
psych banner 2
By
HeadQuest
The Psychedelic Underground: How a New Counterculture Is Rewriting the Rules of Getting High
Walk into any warehouse rave, desert gathering, or rooftop after-hours in 2026, and you’ll feel it: the psychedelic underground is back, louder, weirder, and far more self-aware than its ‘60s predecessor ever imagined.
Hot Regulaion
By
Matt Weeks
Too Hot For Regulation: How to Stay Cool Amid Crackdowns
In 62 BC, Julius Caesar announced his plan to divorce his second wife, Pompeia. She had been involved in an ancient Roman sex scandal, accused of flirting with another man during a women-only religious event.
2026-01-28_11-46-37
By
Matt Weeks
One Bad Sign: Mike Wittenberg Reflects on his 18 Months in a Foreign Jail for Cannabis Crimes
ile Mike Wittenberg sat in a Dominican Republic prison, a thought occurred to him. “I could appreciate flushing the toilet,” he said. “When you’re in a third-world jail without running water 23.5 hours a day, you learn to appreciate the little things.”
2026-01-28_14-43-30
By
Joe Reefer
Omni-Channel Marketing in the Cannabis Industry
When it comes to marketing, cannabis is different from every other consumer good available today. If sales start to dip in traditional retail, you can simply increase ad spending. However, with companies like Google, Meta, and even traditional broadcasters placing strict bans or severe limitations on cannabis advertising, the standard “pay-to-play” system just doesn’t work.
2026-01-28_14-56-34
By
HeadQuest
Krave Kratom
It feels impossible sometimes to escape the more ridiculousness aspects of pop culture—like pickleball, whatever a Labubu is, and the inevitable media frenzy surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's upcoming wedding. Thankfully, there’s at least one trend that’s still on the rise that I can get behind, which is kratom.
2026-01-28_11-09-45
By
Emily Long
Blunt Brunch
When Adelia Carrillo (Fakhri) and Parisa Rad first sat down for brunch in Phoenix, AZ, with a few other women in the cannabis industry, they had no idea how that moment would change the trajectory of their lives. “The energy in that room was transformative,” Adelia says.