The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS)  launched a public education campaign to remind adults to keep hand sanitizer out of reach of children. “Amid a massive shortage of hand sanitizer in the United States, more than 700 distillers across the country are coming to the aid of their communities to produce this much-needed item during the COVID-19 crisis,” said DISCUS President and CEO Chris Swonger. “Distillers are jumping in to help stop the spread of COVID-19, but we also want to raise awareness among adults that hand sanitizer should be kept out of reach of children.” The campaign features public education images created by DISCUS that will be shared on their website and highlighted across its social media platforms. In addition, DISCUS is providing the images to distillers who are producing hand sanitizer and encouraging them to share on their social media channels. “The message is simple: Keep your kids safe by keeping hand sanitizer out of reach,” said Swonger. “Through this campaign, we want to help share a proactive prevention message as we fire up our stills to keep our communities safe.” Swonger said the public education campaign was developed to support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has expressed concern about children inadvertently consuming hand sanitizer as the demand for this product increases due to COVID-19.  As of today, April 15th, 2020, the FDA has updated their guidance on the production of hand sanitizer, stressing the importance of denaturing alcohol used in hand sanitizer:   “Denaturing…

See below from ASCSA, just remember to follow FDA rules and regs: American Craft Spirits Association GUIDANCE FOR DSP PRODUCTION OF HAND SANITIZER AND SANITARY SPRAY Craft distilleries around the country are stepping in to help alleviate our national shortage of sanitizing solutions. Two products in particular are in high demand: 60% ABV hand sanitizer and 70% ABV sanitary spray for surface disinfection. ACSA is working closely with TTB and FDA to ensure DSPs have the appropriate regulatory guidance and other information needed to ensure proper production and distribution guidelines are followed, as well as standards for safety and efficacy. TTB Just released from TTB, March 18, 2020 at 6:00p.m. This special edition contains guidance for DSPs and Industrial Alcohol User permittees on producing ethanol-based hand sanitizers. Due to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Acting Administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has found that it is necessary or desirable to waive provisions of internal revenue law with regard to distilled spirits, and therefore is providing certain exemptions and authorizations to distilled spirits permittees who wish to produce ethanol-based hand sanitizers to address the demand for such products during this emergency. Any existing DSP therefore can immediately commence production of hand sanitizer or distilled spirits (ethanol) for use in hand sanitizer, as described below, without having to obtain authorization first. These measures are generally authorized under authorities that apply in disaster situations, and as a result, are initially approved through June 30, 2020, with the…

Yesterday, the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration announced that Epidiolex, the newly approved medication by the Food & Drug Administration, is being placed in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act, the least restrictive schedule of the CSA. The FDA announced in June that it approved Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients two years of age and older. Epidiolex contains cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical constituent of the cannabis plant. The CBD in Epidiolex is extracted from the cannabis plant and is the first FDA-approved drug to contain a purified extract from the plant. Marijuana and CBD derived from marijuana remain against the law, except for the limited circumstances that it has been determined there is a medically approved benefit via approval by the FDA. In those instances, the drug will be made appropriately available to the public for medical use. See more here: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2018/09/27/fda-approved-drug-epidiolex-placed-schedule-v-controlled-substance-act