CBD in the United Kingdom
Business briefing
Current business and company-related news on the CBD industry
Regulatory briefing
Current legal and regulatory news covering the CBD industry
Market reports
Full-length in-depth reports with detailed data and analysis for individual markets around the world
Regulatory reports
Comprehensive legal reports outlining how the sector is regulated, interpretation of the laws and relevant bodies
Market trackers
Up-to-date real-time information and insights on brands, pricing and retail across selected markets
Regulatory trackers
Regularly updated global regulations currently in place, compiled into easy-to-read maps and tables
Charts and infographics
Highlights of the data and analysis that can be found in our full-length market reports
NEW FORMAT
From February of 2022, subscribers will be able to view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our alerts compilations, visit our alerts Round-up section.
Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the CBD and cannabis sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Round-up section.
13th September 2022
UK - Scotland: The Scottish Medicines Consortium announced yesterday that Sativex was accepted for use within NHSScotland as treatment for relieving symptoms in adults with multiple sclerosis who have not responded adequately to other treatments.
26th August 2022
- UK: Love Hemp Group Plc was fined by the UK-based Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) with £100,000, but due to an early settlement, the company announced that it will pay the sum of £70,000. The company has been suspended from trading for providing misleading information about the fundraising and its financial position to investors.
28th July 2022
UK: The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for CBD products yesterday presented its recommendations for regulation of the industry. The group called on the govenment to estalish a commercially viable THC limit in consumer products, review the novel food regulation, and enable family doctors to prescribe cannabis, removing the requirement for them to triage their prescription with two others. It reiterated that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, rather than the Home Office, should be responsible for hemp.
18th July 2022
UK: The government has opened a consultation, open until 10th October, on a proposed new policy on adult drug use. Possible changes involve changing the Drug Trafficking Offences Act to allow testing for class B drugs, including cannabis; requiring all first-time drug possession offenders to be fined and to attend a drug awareness course; a second such offence would lead to a period of mandatory drug testing and an additional awareness course; a third offence would risk an exclusion order, tagging, passport confiscation, and disqualification from driving.
1st July 2022
- UK: Asked what assessment she has made of the potential merits of developing and simplifying hemp production, Victoria Prentis, minister of state for the department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra), said that Defra has commissioned a research review of opportunities for diversifying UK agriculture through investment in underutilised crops, which will examine hemp cultivation from a grower and consumer perspective. “When these studies conclude, Home Office and Defra will work together to take forward any recommendations to help farmers navigate the licencing system and make sure all related processes are fit for purpose,” Prentis said.
1st July 2022
- UK: A review of UK cannabis policy chaired by Christopher Hodges has been published. Among others, the report recommends establishing a single authority to govern and guide the entire sector; set a clear rule on trace amounts of controlled cannabinoids in consumer products and revise the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 to set the permitted “zero THC” level; and permit licensed hemp growers to process flowers. The report was commissioned by the Centre of Medicinal Cannabis and the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry.
1st July 2022
- UK: The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has updated the public list of CBD products that can be marketed in England and Wales with almost 6,000 additional products. The list is now closed, and any changes to it will be concerning the products’ status.
16th June 2022
UK: There was conflicting evidence from the police given to yesterday’s meeting of the Home Affairs Committee on policing of drugs. David Sidwick, police and crime commissioner for Dorset, said decriminalising cannabis would worsen the current situation. However, Thames Valley chief constable John Campbell said such a move would free up resources for other police work.
15th June 2022
UK: In response to a question by MP Michael Fabricant about how the prescribing of medical cannabis might be eased, especially for children, junior health minister Maria Caulfield said: “I am pleased to say that NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research have recently announced two clinical randomised controlled trials to try to build that evidence base to get more of these products licensed.”
27th May 2022
- UK - Scotland: Asked about its approach to enforcement of novel food rules, Food Standards Scotland (FSS) told CBD-Intel that any businesses currently selling CBD products on the Scottish market are not in compliance with the novel food regulations and referred to the Food Standard Agency (FSA) list. "We are working closely with local authorities who have responsibility for the enforcement of non-compliant products," added the FSS representative.
12th May 2022
- UK: London mayor Sadiq Khan has established the London Drugs Commission, which will study the decriminalisation of cannabis and be chaired by a former justice secretary, Lord Charlie Falconer. During his visit to the US, Khan said that he is fascinated by the US decriminalising cannabis and thereby raising the quality and safety of products and increasing tax revenues accounted for legal cannabis sales.
