Czech Republic planning ban on CBD sales
Despite being a driving force behind cannabis reform across Europe, food safety officials in the Czech Republic announced plans to ban the sale of CBD and other cannabinoids this week.
On April 25, the Czech Minister of Agriculture Zdeněk Nekula said in a press release that due to EU regulation and a lack of research on the health effects of CBD, new measures were being prepared to remove oils, tinctures, capsules, gummies, other edibles and some cosmetics from the market.
“I cannot accept that food is placed on the market which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) cannot assure is safe,” he said, adding that it was likely these new measures ‘will have an impact on some food business operators’.
This blanket ban, which will cover both hemp-derived and synthetic CBD, is expected to take effect during the first half of June 2023.
Authorities specifically cited EFSA’s novel food regulation, stating that the products must pass safety checks before they are allowed to be sold or marketed in the country.
“EFSA identified several potential risks and stated that many missing data regarding potential health effects need to be completed before progress can be made in assessing the safety of CBD and hemp extracts. It stated that due to the lack of data, it is not possible to confirm the safety of CBD.”
In June 2022, EFSA announced that it was ‘stopping the clock’ on European novel foods applications until ‘many data gaps’ were filled, meaning no new CBD products can be approved for sale in the EU until the research is complete.
According to CzecHemp, the national coordinator for anti-drug policy Jindřich Vobořil was caught off guard by the measures, telling the group: “We are currently preparing a proposal to create a completely new category of psychomodulatory substances, which would also cover CBD hemp and products with up to 1% THC.
“I was not informed in advance of this activity by the Ministry of Agriculture. It would have been better if the Government Office had been consulted. I was a bit surprised and it is not good.”
The organisation also called the move ‘unnecessary’ and ‘unforced’, arguing that novel food regulation is ‘not legally binding’, leaving EU member states to judge for themselves what is and what is not a novel food.
Its Vice President Jan Martin added: “The cannabis sector with CBD and other cannabinoids is worth hundreds of millions of crowns in the Czech Republic, and banning it would harm more than 100 companies with hundreds of employees.
“We expect the responsible authorities to heed the long-standing call from experts to ensure quality control of CBD products on the market, instead of banning the entire segment, effectively opposing current scientific knowledge, including the WHO conclusions.”
Portugal tables legalisation bill
Last week, Portugal’s Liberal Initiative party submitted a bill to parliament calling for the legalisation of cannabis for adult use, making the country the latest in a growing list of EU nations to be pursuing such measures.
The bill was approved at the committee stage after being submitted on Wednesday April 20, and marks the second time a vote on cannabis legalisation will be put to the Portuguese parliament after the Bloco de Esquerda (Left Block) tabled a similar bill in 2018.
While this bill was ultimately rejected, lawmakers are seemingly much more open to the Liberal Initiatives’ proposals this time around.
The president of the parliamentary commission for health Maria Antónia Almeida Santos telling local news publication TSF she believed there was a “consensus emerging” among the parties regarding the legalisation of cannabis, though she stipulated that the bill was likely to undergo some changes before it would be passed.
https://businessofcannabis.com/portugals-left-bloc-party-has-delivered-a-new-draft-bill-to-parliament-proposing-the-legalisation-of-cannabis-for-personal-use/
According to Cannareporter, the bill is likely to be debated in parliament as early as June, with a vote expected later this year.
Under the new proposals, businesses would be free to develop and commercialise any cannabis product, including flower, cannabis pre-mixed with tobacco, vapes, edibles and even alcoholic beverages.
While the scope for businesses is broad, the bill also proposes setting THC limits for all products, while enacting measures to protect minors, and ‘anyone who appears to have a mental disorder or is visibly intoxicated’.
Anyone over the age of 18 would be able to openly purchase cannabis, possess up to 25 grams, and cultivate their own cannabis for personal use.
The draft law suggests that home grown cannabis will only be allowed from certain ‘authorised’ seeds, THC limits may be imposed and the sale and commercialisation of self-cultivated cannabis will be banned.
Lithuania to reconsider decriminalisation of small amounts of cannabis
The Lithuanian parliament, known as the Seimas, is now set to reconsider the decriminalisation of small amounts of cannabis.
In December 2022, the Seimas put forward a proposal to alter the Code of Administrative Offenses so that anyone found to be in possession, acquisition, storage and transportation of a small amount of cannabis would only result in a warning, and a fine of between €50-€300, rather than criminal penalties.
At the time the bill was voted down. However, this week members of the Seimas voted to approve the conclusions of the Ethics and Procedures Committee, which found that parliamentary rules had been broken when this initial vote took place.
According to local media, the breach was due to expert opinions not being sought on the bill before it was voted upon.
The bill will now return to the ‘consideration stage in the Law and Order Committee’, and will soon see another vote in the Seimas.
