The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) has published a position paper calling on regulators to harmonise the current patchwork of CBD-regulation in the European Union (EU). Furthermore, that such legislation should seek to avoid imposing restrictions on CBD and clarify that extracts and preparations from industrial hemp are not seen as narcotics.
CBD is one of the non-psychotropic cannabinoids derived from industrial hemp. According to EIHA, thanks to its beneficial health effects and absence of “relevant” side-effects even when administered at high doses, CBD has seen growing interest for use as a food supplement and in food supplement compositions, an ingredient in cosmetics and as an active ingredient in pharmaceutical products.
The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), a consortium of the industrial hemp growing and processing industry, is calling on regulators for a “reasonable” EU-wide regulation of the use of cannabidiol (CBD) in food, cosmetics, herbal remedies and as medicinal product. In a position paper published today, the EIHA highlights the current patchwork of CBD-regulation in the EU citing the different stances recently taken by national regulators in the UK and Germany respectively. This says EIHA, hinders the further development of nascent high-value biochemicals industry based on industrial hemp, an agricultural crop.
EIHA supports the development of a harmonised legislation to ensure that consumers are protected, the industry’s current double-digit growth rate can be sustained and that product development can be stimulated product. However such legislation should avoid imposing restrictions on CBD and clarify that extracts and preparations from industrial hemp are not narcotics.
EIHA also declared that it is “strictly opposed” to attempts by a few pharmaceutical companies to make CBD a prescription-only drug as “this only serves the interest of a few companies” at the expense of an emerging industry. Furthermore that such legislation would restrict access to CBD for many citizens already benefitting from CBD in food and cosmetics.
Instead the association proposes that the EU-regulators introduce a three-tier regulation based on the CBD dosage with the high dose products, such as medicinal products, regulated as such. Additional aspects such as route of administration, indication area, maximum single / daily dose and pack size can, according to EIHA, be used to further fine-tune the regulation suggesting the German BfArM methodology already in use to differentiate and demarcate between prescription-only and pharmacy-only substances.
5550/AS
