The EU Officially Supports That CBD is Indeed Not a Narcotic

The EU Court has ruled the French ban placed on marketing hemp-derived CBD products to be illegal. This ruling also brought attention to the fact that France has not banned synthetic CBD. As a writer that covers the topic of CBD in the EU, allow me to say it is a very delicately worded topic. Compared to the United States, the CBD industry across the EU is very much still in the gray, in my opinion. The wording is very delicate, to say the least. Arguments are made over 0.01 percentiles. According to French law, only seeds and the fiber from hemp that has less than 0.2% THC is allowed to be utilized commercially. Hemp flower is not. That didn’t appear to stand up in EU court. The EU Court stated,

“The national court must assess available scientific data to make sure that the real risk to public health alleged does not appear to be based on purely hypothetical considerations. A decision to prohibit the marketing of CBD, which indeed constitutes the most restrictive obstacle to trade in products lawfully manufactured and marketed in other EU member states can be adopted only if that risk appears sufficiently established.”

How These Changes Came to Light

The EU Court ruling that deemed CBD is not a narcotic was part of charges brought up against Sébastian Béguerie and Antonin Cohen, founders of EU based CBD company KanaVape Co. The CBD industry in the EU looks at this ruling as a major win for the industry. The European Commission had planned to pursue a classification placing CBD under the category of a narcotic. This EU Court ruling helps prevent this from happening. A partner from the law firm Ince, Robert Jappie, was quoted by media sources saying,

“By confirming that there was no scientific evidence to suggest that CBD has a harmful effect on the human body, the court has made it very difficult for the European Commission to pursue their proposed classification of CBD as a narcotic.”

Pure CBD has the support and the backing of some massive players in the global industry. The World Health Organization says there isn’t any evidence” of any public health-related problems associated with the use of pure CBD. ” Over the past few years, there has been a consumer surge in demand for CBD creams, tinctures, oils, and other products. This demand is driven by consumer reports of CBD products helping to reduce inflammation, pain, stress, and anxiety. However, these are all topics you are not allowed to discuss when mentioning CBD in the EU.

If you have a CBD product in the EU and try to explain what that product might do to potential customers, you might find this to be a very frustrating situation. You’re allowed to sell hemp CBD products as long as it comes from EU certified hemp cultivars containing 0.2% THC or less. The wording is very precise. However, you are not allowed to make any medical claims, such as CBD products that may help with the symptoms of stress, pain, anxiety, or any other medical condition. The European Journal of Pain has content that suggests the topical application of CBD to the skin could help reduce arthritic pain. The European Journal of Pain follows up, citing the lack of clinical evidence to verify the overall efficiency of CBD to accomplish this task. They also stress their concern about the unregulated CBD market.

Catch 22 – Synthetic CBD is Approved in the EU and the USA

If you’re a synthetic CBD product, however, it’s a good time to be you. While European and American Health authorities scrutinize the potential of medicinal cannabinoid therapies having any medical benefit, they have both approved Epidiolex, which is a CBD-based drug. This leaves many people to believe that only pharmaceutical companies with deep pockets have paid their way into the CBD game. If you’re a small business or private group marketing CBD products, you cannot make any kind of medical claims about CBD. This makes it exceedingly difficult to market a CBD product. Now, the game has changed in favor of CBD in the EU, with the court ruling saying that “CBD is not a narcotic.” CBD businesses across the EU can now quote this EU court ruling.

The EU court ruling that CBD is not a narcotic is a major victory for CBD business across the EU. Business owners now have an extremely strong piece of wording supporting CBD that they can promote, thanks to the EU court. As more places revise outdated laws in regard to cannabis, more people will begin to see a safer regulated market. A market that isn’t strictly controlled by the pharmaceutical industry or FDA and EU approved pharma versions of cannabis-derived CBD. It would seem that taxpayers in the EU would be getting tired of government scrutiny over CBD when scientific evidence suggests that CBD has no harmful effect on the human body and synthetic forms of it have been approved for medical use.