Is CBD legal in Europe?

CBD products such as CBD oil, CBD tea or CBD flowers are widely available on the Internet. However, the current legal situation is not clear. Both sellers and consumers are often unsettled. That is why we have dealt very intensively with this topic, did a lot of research and spoke to various authorities.

Today, the best European companies and distributors allow you to buy legal CBD cannabis and find the best CBD Weed online in the UK and many other European countries.

Demand in the CBD flowers online shop

We asked one of the best online shops, and when asked whether the sale of CBD flowers to end customers in the UK was not prohibited, we received the following answer:

“No, otherwise we wouldn’t sell to private individuals either. We have a unique British website for this: with products that do not exceed a THC value of 0.2 per cent and are therefore legal in the UK. Furthermore, our flowers and everything else is sold as flavour products and not for consumption. “

We asked what flavour products were and got no clear answer. It was only pointed out that the product’s “original product, not recommended for consumption”.

But what do you do with flavour products? The support responded with a blinking smiley: “It’s up to you.”

Of course, we were also interested in where the CBD flowers come from, but the support team informed us that they did not know and gave us an email address to contact. Unfortunately, we have not yet received any answers to our questions.

Can CBD flowers be legally sold as primary products?

It is unclear whether it is illegal to buy these “original products”. We assume that these online shops are actually in a grey area, which is why caution is advised. Ultimately, it always depends on the interpretation of the respective court.

It is always unclear where the CBD flowers come from and whether the specified already low CBD values ​​are accurate. The same applies to the THC content, which is stated below 0.2 per cent, but could theoretically also be higher.

Buyers take advantage of loopholes in the law.

It is not easy to understand the complex connections. The sellers of CBD flowers, which best come from EU hemp varieties, but still have very low CBD values, use small loopholes in the law to sell their products (at overpriced prices).

It is advertised that the CBD flowers contain less than 0.2 percent THC and are therefore legal in the UK. But this is by no means the case, because unprocessed hemp products may NOT be sold to end customers.

All of this isn’t very clear to consumers, and many rely on what sellers say.

But the fact is that CBD flowers are illegal – whoever buys them is liable to prosecution.

And what about tea and coffee that contains CBD?

According to the Ministry for the Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia, the situation with hemp blossom tea is different, because hemp was already on the market before the cut-off date in May 1997 and is therefore at least not a “novel food”. As long as the products contain less than 0.2 per cent tetrahydrocannabinol, they are currently allowed on the market as food.

On the other hand, the same should apply for CBD flowers concerning CBD tea and CBD coffee. Even if the CBD tea or the CBD coffee comes from EU hemp varieties, and the THC content is below 0.2 per cent, abuse cannot be ruled out here either. Theoretically, one could extract the THC from CBD tea or CBD coffee, even if large amounts are necessary.

The responsibility for the safety and compliance of the marketed products with the legal requirements lies exclusively with the food business operator. The official surveillance controls randomly. In each case, the locally responsible food control authority ensures that products that do not comply with the legal regulations are withdrawn from the market.

Is CBD Oil legal?

Whether CBD oil is legal depends on whether the hemp-containing product falls under the Narcotics Act (BtMG) or the general food law provisions apply.

If the THC content falls below 0.2%, no healing promises are made on the product packaging, and a small amount of the prescription-only active ingredient CBD is added. CBD oil is usually a legally available food dietary supplement in The UK.

When placing foodstuffs (and thus also food supplements) on the market, it should be noted that the ingredients used for production are not classified as medicinal products due to their pharmacological effect.

Besides, CBD is subject to prescription. Therefore, the medicinal properties of products with the addition of CBD must be checked in each case. According to Article 2, Paragraph 2d of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002, medicinal products are not classified as food. In this case, these products would not be marketable as food supplements.

Full-spectrum extracts and isolated CBD

The production method plays an important role. Especially with full-spectrum production, you can be sure that the CBD content corresponds to the original plant and therefore not a novel food. An application following the Novel Food Regulation is only required if the CBD content is higher than in the original plant.

It is unclear whether a conventional oil with 5 or 15% CBD has a pharmacological effect or perhaps just a physiological one. However, it is generally assumed that there is no pharmacological effect.

Extracted or isolated CBD has a pharmacological effect and can therefore be considered a medicinal product. Accordingly, isolated CBD would have to be a prescription drug.

The state authorities can prohibit CBD oils’ sale if they can prove that they each have a pharmacological effect. The authorities would have to prove this through investigations.