CBD industry offers initial welcome for prospects of government product legislation

The Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI) has offered a cautious welcome to the UK government Home Office’s decision to accept expert recommendations that will provide a platform for creating the region’s first legal framework for using CBD-based products, writes Neill Barston.

As the organisation observed, the latest proposals follow in the wake of its campaign this summer urging an update in the law, to avoid preventing growth within the segment, which has risked being held back due to the lack of clear regulations surrounding the industry.

Furthermore, as the ACI noted, the former Minister of State for Crime and Policing Kit Malthouse had acknowledged the need for legal clarification in January 2021, stating: “There is currently not a legal framework in place specifically exempting CBD products from control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and with this in mind, the Government wishes to explore the possibility of creating a specific exemption in the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 (‘the 2001 Regulations’) for CBD products which contain no more than a defined trace percentage of controlled cannabinoids.”

His comments followed an ACMD report which detailed its recommendations for changing the law in December 2021. Until today the government had not publicly responded to these recommendations, with the ACI due to meet with the government, aiming to gain further agreement on the detail surrounding any such legislation.

Steve Moore, Co-founder of the ACI, commented: “It is imperative for the nascent UK consumer cannabinoid sector that a legal framework is put in place to provide comfort for companies operating in the space and reassurance for consumers and retailers. That this will also help accelerate the regulatory process that businesses have invested in only adds to the importance of the explicit commitment to bring forward the necessary amendments to the Misuse of Drugs 2001 regulations. The ACI will comment further after meetings in the coming days with senior Home Office officials who have engaged with this issue honestly and openly in the past three months.”