We have already become familiar with cannabidiol (CBD), an extract from hemp flowers, and its benefits. The CBD market has developed rapidly, the number of users is increasing, and the legislation is still unregulated. Brightfield Group announced that the European market for CBD products grew by 273 million euros in 2018. They estimate that it will grow at least fivefold by 2021, to 1.5 billion euros. This has whetted the appetites of many.

Consequences? The development of a gray or unregulated market allows companies to sell their products without supervision, which can pose a great risk to human health. Ironically, this risk is not related to cannabidiol itself, but to other substances that the preparations may contain (molds, heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) Another problem affecting the CBD market is misleading advertising: many companies sell preparations with a lower CBD content than declared on the packaging, or add synthetic cannabinoids, dangerous chemicals or illegal drugs to them.

How did European authorities set about regulating this area? With the Novel Foods Regulation! Extracts obtained from industrial hemp flowers, which have been available so far, are to be banned for use in the food and cosmetics industry - even though the CBD molecule has been confirmed as one of the safest molecules in the world and even though the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized cannabidiol as a substance that is harmless to humans. This is despite the countless testimonies of the positive effects of CBD on humans that many of us have witnessed - in the family circle, as travelers in the field, in hospitals, and also from reports from patients and doctors.

Writing off the entire production of CBD, which creates much-needed new jobs and where most producers follow the rules, does not make sense. Nor can we put consumer safety at risk. The EU has begun procedures to sort out the current confusion by designating cannabidiol as a novel food, but this is only the beginning of a process that could take years. In July 2019, all Slovenian producers and distributors received a summons from the Health Inspectorate to provide proof of approval of hemp extract as a novel food under EU regulation within fourteen days, proof of significant use of hemp extract before May 15, 1997, or proof that a history of safe use in third world countries can be demonstrated for 25 years. If they cannot provide evidence, they must provide a list of their products that do not comply with the law within fourteen days. This is expected to be followed by a decision, which they have not yet received. Many recipients of these inspection notices did not really know what was wanted from them. The required evidence to satisfy the European Commission is impossible to obtain, and the evidence of approval of hemp extract as a novel food, issued by the same Commission, has not yet been issued to anyone in the EU. Therefore, under current European legislation, EVERYONE who is currently involved in the production, sale, distribution or development of any food product containing hemp extract is in violation.

The only ones who, at the beginning of 2018, after almost a year of preparing this application and with a lot of resources spent, submitted an application to the European Commission or EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), were representatives of the Czech company Cannabis Pharma, sro (their products are sold in Slovenia under the brand name CBDex.) This year, EFSA assessed their application positively and sent it to the European Commission for signature. If the application of the company Cannabis Pharma, sro is approved (as we can see, EFSA has no professional reservations, the preparations are appropriate), they will pave the way for regulation and legislation in this area. So the experts have already decided in favor of humans, now we just have to wait for politics.

EU member states have reacted differently to the European Commission's regulation. Some have carried out informative checks, while others (Germany) have been stricter and have even closed some shops selling products containing CBD. Austria, for example, has adopted a one-year moratorium: the products can remain on store shelves for another year, during which time the authorities will regulate the regulations. Some member states, such as the Czech Republic, do not care about the regulation; they interpret it according to their own interests and act and develop in this area.

In Slovenia, inspections have forced us to face the fact: either show the evidence (which no one can get at the moment) or clean it all up.

The question arises whether our authorities really care so much about people's well-being that they will ban one of the safest molecules in the world - or is there something else at play. Considering the slowness, incompetence and unresponsiveness of our competent authorities, we can at best assess this as disinterest, if not something worse. Time passes, and this causes irreparable damage - both for consumers and for the entire industry. If there is a complete ban, quite a few of our companies will send their workers to the employment service and close their doors.

How to take action?
Until the rules regarding CBD products in food are clear and until broader legislation is adopted, instead of a general ban on production and sales, a transitional period of temporary regulation could be established, a moratorium on the regulation could be introduced for a period of one year and, like the Austrians, they could write their own rules. Transitional or temporary regulation would not be complicated. It should focus primarily on consumer safety. Experts in this field have been available for years, as hemp is the most studied plant in the history of mankind. The authorities' greatest responsibility should therefore be to protect consumers, which they would achieve by imposing mandatory testing and certification of all food products containing CBD. They would have to be tested for toxic substances and determine whether the value of CBD in an individual product is the same as that declared on the packaging. This would prevent poisoning and deception. It is understandable and right that the market for CBD products is regulated. But a complete ban on CBD is not the solution. The ban can only mean further development of the black market, as the prices of preparations are already skyrocketing, not to mention the quality of the preparations and the professionalism of their sellers. Hemp (and consequently CBD) has existed, exists and will exist even after a possible administrative ban. With the ban, consumers who have very quickly adopted preparations with CBD as their own will suffer the most, and of course, legal producers of preparations. Whose interests is this?

Let me just add that artificially obtained, "synthetic" CBD is allowed to be sold, although in the last few years there have been many cases and studies proving its poorer performance and, above all, numerous worrying side effects that natural CBD from hemp flower extract does not have. Now understand and believe...

Text: Dejan Batista