Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.

Ex Input:
Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a half-million acres (200,000 hectares) last year, more than 450% above 2018 levels, so there’s intense interest in the rules the U.S. government is creating. Critical comments on the draft have poured in from hemp farmers, processors, retailers and state governments. Growers are concerned the government wants to use a heavy hand that could result in many crops failing required tests and being destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency writing the rules, estimates 20% of hemp lots would fail under the proposed regulations. “Their business is to support farmers — and not punish farmers — and the rules as they’re written right now punish farmers,” said Dove Oldham, who last year grew an acre (0.40 hectares) of hemp on her family farm in Grants Pass. “There’s just a lot of confusion, and people are just looking for leadership.” The USDA did not respond to the criticism but has taken the unusual step of extending the public comment period by a month, until Jan. 29. The agency told The Associated Press it will analyze information from this year’s growing season before releasing its final rules, which would take effect in 2021. Agricultural officials in states that run pilot hemp cultivation programs under an earlier federal provision are weighing in with formal letters to the USDA. “There are 46 states where hemp is legal, and I’m going to say that every single state has raised concerns to us about something within the rule. They might be coming from different perspectives, but every state has raised concerns,” said Aline DeLucia, director of public policy for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Most of the anxiety involves how the federal government plans to test for THC, the high-inducing compound found in marijuana and hemp, both cannabis plants. The federal government and most states consider plants with tiny amounts — 0.3% or less — to be hemp. Anything above that is marijuana and illegal under federal law. Yet another cannabis compound has fueled the explosion in hemp cultivation. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is marketed as a health and wellness aid and infused in everything from food and drinks to lotions, toothpaste and pet treats. Many have credited CBD with helping ease pain, increase sleep and reduce anxiety. But scientists caution not enough is known about its health effects, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year targeted nearly two dozen companies for making CBD health claims. Still, the CBD market is increasing at a triple-digit rate and could have $20 billion in sales by 2024, according to a recent study by BDS Analytics, a marketing analysis firm that tracks cannabis industry trends. About 80% of the 18,000 farmers licensed for hemp cultivation are in the CBD market, said Eric Steenstra, president of the advocacy group Vote Hemp. The remaining 20% grow hemp for its fiber, used in everything from fabric to construction materials, or its grain, which is added to health foods. But hemp is a notoriously fickle crop. Conditions such as sunlight, moisture and soil composition determine its ratio of THC to CBD. Choosing the right harvesting window is critical to ensuring it stays within acceptable THC levels. Under the draft USDA rules, farmers have no wiggle room. They must harvest within 15 days of testing their crop for THC, and the samples must be sent to a lab certified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Samples must be from the top of the plant, where THC levels are highest, and the final measurement must include not just THC, but also THCA, a nonpsychoactive component. Crops that test above 0.3% for the two combined must be destroyed. Growers with crops above 0.5% would be considered in “negligent violation,” and those with repeated violations could be suspended from farming hemp. In addition, a pilot program for federal crop insurance that would be available to hemp growers in some states specifies that crops lost because of high THC levels won’t be covered. Those provisions are causing alarm among growers and states with pilot hemp programs allowed under the 2014 Farm Bill. Some states allow THC levels above 0.3%, and not all include THCA in that calculation. Many permit more harvesting time for growers after THC testing. Farmers are lobbying for a 1% THC limit and a 30-day harvest window to give them more flexibility while remaining well under THC levels that can get people high. The draft regulations don’t “seem to be informed by the reality of the crop,” said Jesse Richardson, who with his brother sells CBD-infused teas and capsules under the brand The Brothers Apothecary. “If no one can produce (federally) compliant hemp flower, then there will be no CBD oil on the market.” Growers are also worried about the proposed rule requiring that all THC testing be done in a DEA-certified lab because there are so few of them. Some states have only one, which would serve hundreds of growers in a short harvest window. Samantha Ford, a third-generation farmer in North Carolina, waited two weeks to get back THC results from a lab last fall and then spent 45 days harvesting her 1 acre (0.40 hectares) of hemp by hand. “The 15-day window — that’s not feasible, and that was on a small scale,” she said. “I can’t imagine farmers who have acres and acres and acres of it.” Concerns also have emerged about the workload the draft rules would place on states. Many do random sampling for THC levels, but the USDA would require five samples from every hemp lot — a burden for state agricultural departments, said DeLucia, of the national ag agencies group. If federal rules are too onerous and expensive, some states might drop their hemp programs. In those cases, farmers would have to apply for licenses with the USDA, and at this stage it’s unclear how U.S. officials would manage or pay for a nationwide licensing program, DeLucia said. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the USDA must approve state plans for hemp programs. Louisiana, Ohio and New Jersey last month were the first to get the green light — but those plans might need to be reworked after final rules are written. “What we don’t want to see is states having to write their rules and then have to change the rules again and rewrite them” after 2021, said Steenstra, of Vote Hemp.

Ex Output:
High anxiety: Proposed US hemp rules worry industry .


Ex Input:
Biotechnology company Alkermes said earlier in the day that  it expected Lilly to drop out of their program to develop an  inhaled insulin treatment for diabetes, sending Alkermes shares  down more than 9 percent. Lilly’s decision marks the third setback in recent months  for inhaled insulin formulations, once deemed potential  blockbuster products because of their greater convenience than  standard injectable insulin. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alkermes, which makes the  alcohol addiction drug Vivitrol, said Lilly has the right to  terminate its license to the inhaled treatment, Air Insulin, at  its discretion. “While Lilly may elect not to commercialize Air Insulin,  Alkermes believes that the phase 3 safety and efficacy trials  should be completed,” Alkermes said in a statement. After Lilly’s announcement, the company said it was  evaluating the impact of the termination, which will become  effective in 90 days. Indianapolis-based Lilly said its decision was not due to  safety concerns, “but rather was a result of increasing  uncertainties in the regulatory environment, and a thorough  evaluation of the evolving commercial and clinical potential of  the product compared to existing medical therapies.”    Lilly Chief Operating Officer John Lechleiter said in a  statement that the company is beginning the process of halting  ongoing clinical studies. Lilly said it will record a first-quarter 2008 charge of  around $90 million to $120 million, or 5 cents to 7 cents per  share. The company said its adjusted earnings per share outlook  remains unchanged at $3.85 to $4.00, while net earnings will  range from $3.73 to $3.90. Lilly’s action comes just five months after Pfizer Inc  abandoned Exubera, the first approved inhaled form of insulin,  and returned rights to the product to longtime partner Nektar  Therapeutics. Exubera had dismal sales because patients were turned off  by the clumsy device used to administer the powdered insulin  and because doctors were concerned by the drug’s tendency to  slightly impair lung function. Alkermes Chairman Richard Pops, in an interview with  Reuters in October, said Air Insulin may have similar effects  on lung function. “We’re assuming that pulmonary insulins in that regard are  all pretty much the same,” he said, although a conclusive  picture of Air Insulin’s safety will not emerge until two-year  safety trials of the product end later this year. A second setback for inhaled insulin came in January, when  Novo Nordisk said it was halting development of its AERx  product, meant to deliver inhaled droplets. The Danish  drugmaker said AERx did not have adequate sales potential,  given the limited commercial success seen with Exubera. Morgan Stanley analyst Jami Rubin said on Friday Lilly’s  abandonment of AIR Insulin made good business sense. “We are not (at) all surprised, and have never been strong  advocates of the pulmonary insulin agents, following the poor  launch and ultimate demise of Pfizer and Nektar’s Exubera and  Novo Nordisk’s termination of its AERx program,” Rubin said in  a research note. Rubin said Alkermes, known for its drug-delivery  technology, is unlikely to continue development of Air Insulin  without Lilly, “given that this represents the third  termination of a pulmonary insulin drug.”    But she said the sharp drop in Alkermes shares represented  a buying opportunity for investors because Air Insulin had only  paltry sales potential. She said investors should be focused instead on another  product Alkermes is developing with Lilly: a long-acting  formulation of Lilly’s Byetta diabetes treatment called Byetta    “We estimate that Byetta LAR could be worth $11 to $12 for  the (Alkermes) stock,” Ryan said. Alkermes shares fell $1.14 to close at $11.26 on Nasdaq. Lilly, a far larger company with an array of big-selling  products, rose 2 cents to end at $49.70 on the New York Stock  Exchange, and was slightly lower at $49.67 in after-hours  trading.

Ex Output:
Eli Lilly drops inhaled insulin program.


Ex Input:
They said the Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltddrug Actos, known  generically as pioglitazone, is the first diabetes therapy  shown to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis. “The results are very striking. In my view, this is really  a breakthrough study,” Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland  Clinic, who led the study, said in an interview. “No one has ever shown any diabetes therapy could slow the  progression of disease. Keep in mind the leading cause of death  for diabetics is cardiovascular disease,” said Nissen, whose  findings were published online in the Journal of the American  Medical Association and presented at a meeting of the American  College of Cardiology in Chicago. Diabetics are especially prone to atherosclerosis, which  involves the build-up of fat, calcium and other deposits in the  arteries. The study, known as PERISCOPE, compared two types of  medications to treat type 2 diabetes — Actos and glimepiride,  an older sulfonylurea drug that is among the most commonly used  classes of diabetes therapies. Actos is in a class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones, a  relatively new group of antidiabetic agents that are known to  raise the risk of heart failure and bone fractures. In the current study, Nissen and colleagues compared the  two drugs to see how well they reduced progression of  atherosclerosis in 543 patients with type 2 diabetes and  coronary disease. The trial took place from 2003-2006 in 97 hospitals in  North and South America. The team used intravascular ultrasound  to measure fatty deposits inside the arteries. Patients took glimepiride or pioglitazone for 18 months and  their arteries were measured again for plaque build-up. While plaque increased 0.73 percent in the glimepiride  group, it fell 0.16 percent in the pioglitazone group. The researchers also looked at maximum plaque thickness and  saw it increased in the glimepiride group and decreased in the  pioglitazone group. “Evidence for a slowing of disease progression has proven a  very challenging end point in recent years with the prominent  failure of several promising approaches,” Nissen and colleagues  wrote in JAMA. Nissen said a single study is not enough to change medical  practice, but it does signal the need for more research on how  different diabetes drugs stack up. Dr. Salim Yusuf of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada,  however, noted that patients in the study who took Actos did  have a significant number of fractures. “We need proper studies in diabetes. This suggests there  may be differences in drugs. We need to test that,” Yusuf told  reporters.

Ex Output:

Actos arrests heart disease in diabetics: study.