CBD medicines for animals will need UK government approval

CBD-based medical treatments for animals will need government approval before being sold in the UK, after the country’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) decided this month that they fall under the definition of veterinary medicines.

The relevant legislation, the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) of 2013, includes in its definition “any substance or combination of substances that may be used in, or administered to, animals with a view either to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action, or to making a medical diagnosis”.

Veterinary products can also fall into the category by presentation, if they are “presented as having properties for treating or preventing disease in animals”.