Indiana governor Eric Holcomb has ordered all stores in the state remove any CBD products containing THC within the next 60 days, after Attorney General Curtis Hill issued an opinion declaring them illegal in Indiana.

In a statement, Holcomb said, “Excise police will perform normal, periodic regulatory spot checks of CBD oil products.” The checks will search for CBD products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, regardless of the amount.

“Because CBD oil has been sold in Indiana for several years, the excise police will use the next 60 days to educate, inform, and issue warnings to retailers so there is a reasonable period of time for them to remove products that contain THC,” Holcomb said.

Before product confiscation begins, this timeline will give state lawmakers the opportunity to review existing CBD oil laws, including labeling requirements.

Indiana’s medical cannabis program only allows patients suffering from epilepsy to receive CBD oil treatments and if the patients sign on to the state’s CBD registry. Before they can be approved, patients must have gone through two traditional pharmaceutical epilepsy treatments and shown no signs of improvement under these drugs. When low-THC oil becomes illegal, it is unsure whether these patients will be able to obtain medical cannabis.

“Simply put,” Hill said, “cannabidiol is a Schedule 1 controlled substance because marijuana is a schedule 1 controlled substance.”

Nathan Renschler, owner of two stores that sell CBD products in Indiana, said CBD can exist without THC, however the product does not contain other beneficial cannabinoids. He added the state’s medical cannabis industry will have to push lawmakers to make progress on this issue during next year’s legislative session.

“We’re not going to go out easily,” Renschler said. “We’re going to drag our heels and see what we can accomplish in those 60 days to get the governor’s office and the attorney general to wake up.”

State Senator Jim Tomes is planning on filing legislation expanding who can have CBD oil under state law. He said he has received a lot of calls from people who have used the product to treat arthritis, Parkinson disease and mental illnesses.

“I just don’t understand why is there such a resistance to allow people to get this product here,” Tomes said. “You can’t abuse it. It either works or it doesn’t.”