MEDLAB CLINICAL - Discussion, page-2

More good news, not necessarily for the immediate benefit of MDC, but for the whole industry in general......

On 19 November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that member states must not prohibit the marketing of lawfully produced CBD. Further, the CJEU ruled that CBD is not considered a narcotic, and as a result, CBD can be freely sold in the European Union (EU).

The case that the ruling stemmed from was in relation to a situation where parties produced hemp- derived CBD products in the Czech Republic, which were then imported into France for use in other products. Criminal proceedings were launched on the basis of a claim that French legislation only allows for the fibre and seeds of hemp to be put to commercial use. It was determined that the aforementioned legislation did not apply CBD derived from a whole hemp plant as it was not a listed agricultural product, and therefore hemp-derived CBD products are not restricted by the relevant legislation.

In arriving at the decision, the CJEU noted that, according to the current state of scientific knowledge, the CBD involved doesn’t appear to have any psychotropic effect or any harmful effect on human health and therefore cannot be classified as a narcotic drug. While a literal interpretation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs might lead to CBD being classified as a drug, this would be contrary to the general spirit of that convention stated in the court ruling summary.

A press release regarding the development can be found via the following link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-11/cp200141en.pdf.

GLA