The Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI) has published a response to today’s Home Office announcement accepting expert recommendations to create the UK’s first legal framework for consumer CBD products that contain controlled cannabinoids.
The government proposals follow an ACI campaign launched in August urging the Home Office to update the law, which risked stifling the growing market for CBD products in the UK.
Then Minister of State for Crime and Policing Kit Malthouse had acknowledged the need for legal clarification in January 2021, saying:
“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 publication of 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.
In the coming days the ACI will work with the Home Office to address the ambiguities and areas of clarification the Ministerial response contains. However, this statement is a clear vindication of the ACI’s campaign strategy.
Steve Moore, Co-founder of the ACI, says:
“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.”
For further enquiries contact Steve Moore
steve@theaci.co.uk
07870515025
