The latest ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning cannabis is very good news for all CBD product manufacturers.
What will you learn from this article?
👉 Can CBD become illegal?
👉 What is the current legal status of cannabidiol?
Table of contents:
According to the ruling ref. case: C-663/18, dated November 19, 2020, the Member States of the European Union cannot prohibit the sale of cannabidiol, i.e. CBD (in the form of oils, concentrates, CBD flower and other products containing cannabidiol), produced lawfully in another Member State.
The condition is that cannabidiol must be an extract from the whole Cannabis Sativa plant. This is a groundbreaking piece of news – especially since the European Commission Spokesperson recently suggested that CBD should be classified as an intoxicating substance.
Kanavape owners wrongly convicted
The whole case started when French authorities convicted the owners of the Kanavape company for selling hemp “e-cigarettes”.
The company was engaged in the sale of pens with CBD liquids, which enjoyed considerable popularity. They were produced in Czechia.
Unfortunately, according to the law that applies in France, CBD not only cannot contain THC, but also… cannot be produced from flowers, but only from the remaining parts of the plant.
The CJEU judgment is the culmination of the case of the French company Kanavape. Its owners – Sébastien Béguerie and Antonin Cohen-Adad – were convicted of selling vape pens with CBD liquids.
Of course, the company owners decided to appeal the judgment, and the appellate court in France referred the case to the CJEU with a request to rule on whether the transport of cannabidiol between EU member states is permissible under EU free movement of goods policy.
The CJEU in its judgment noted that it understands the French authorities, but the concerns are somewhat exaggerated. The French authorities – as the CJEU found – made an error and wrongly convicted the owners of Kanavape.
However, this is not the key issue that was included in the judgment.
CJEU judgment on CBD – good news for member states
The CJEU judgment ref.: C-663/18 of 19 November 2020 clearly indicates that:
“A member state cannot prohibit the sale of cannabidiol (CBD) legally produced in another member state, if it is an extract from the entire cannabis sativa plant, and not only from its seeds and fibers.”
As we read further:
“However, this prohibition may be justified by the aim of protecting public health, but it cannot go beyond what is necessary to achieve it.”
The Court of Justice of the European Union judgment was based mainly on the fact that CBD does not have intoxicating effects:
“The Court noted that when defining the concepts of ‘drug’ and ‘intoxicating substance’, Union law refers to two conventions of the United Nations: the Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
CBD was not listed in the first convention, and, although the literal interpretation of the second convention could lead to its classification as an intoxicating substance, as an extract from cannabis, such interpretation would be contrary to the general spirit of that convention and its aim to protect the ‘physical and mental health of mankind’.
The Court noted that according to the current state of scientific knowledge, which must necessarily be taken into account, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly referred to as ‘THC’), another cannabinoid from cannabis, CBD considered in the proceedings before the national court does not appear to have psychotropic effects or effects harmful to human health.”
It is also worth mentioning another fragment of the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment, which clearly states that:
“(…) the national court should assess the available scientific data to ensure that the alleged actual risk to public health does not turn out to be based on purely hypothetical assumptions.
In fact, a ban on the sale of CBD, which is moreover the most restrictive obstacle to trade concerning a product manufactured and sold in accordance with the law in other Member States, can only be accepted when such risk is sufficiently demonstrated.”
Summary
There is no doubt that the latest CJEU ruling on cannabis and CBD products is a real breakthrough for the entire cannabis industry.
The ruling will provide a solid legal basis for companies in which any proceedings have been initiated concerning the legality of sold products – also in Poland, where CBD product sellers are regularly inspected by the appropriate administrative authorities.
The CJEU should know that CBD is not obtained from fibers, let alone from cannabis seeds.
(4.7/5)