27th November 2023: Canada: Health Canada approved the use of Epidiolex as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), Dravet syndrome (DS), or tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) in patients aged two or older.
6th November 2023: US - Florida: Just Brands, which markets CBD products under the brand Just CBD, is suing Florida authorities in federal court over a raid carried out by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to enforce a new law prohibiting hemp-derived products that are attractive to children, press reports. Signed into law in June, Senate Bill (SB) 1676 prohibits the sale and distribution of hemp products that are attractive to children, which is defined as being in the form of a human, animal, or cartoon; bears “reasonable resemblance” to a known branded product; or contains any colour additive. However, Just Brands contends that it did not violate the law because those products were produced for sale in other states. This is the latest in a series of sweeps that the FDACS has made since SB 1676 took effect.
2nd November 2023: US - Virginia: A federal judge has denied an injunction against Virginia authorities that would have prevented them from enforcing a new law that restricts the amount of THC allowed in hemp products. Enacted in April, Senate Bill (SB) 903 includes all forms of THC in its 0.3% threshold for hemp products and caps the total amount of THC that hemp products can contain at either a maximum of 2 mg of total THC per package or an amount of CBD at least 25 times greater than the total amount of THC. Hemp industry members sued authorities to prevent the enforcement of SB 903, but with the denial of the injunction the new law may be enforced while the lawsuit is litigated.
26th October 2023: Italy: The Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) has extended the suspension of the decree that places “the compositions for oral administration of cannabidiol obtained from Cannabis extracts” in the table of medicines in the Narcotics Act until 16th January 2024. On that day, the TAR will rule on the decree’s legitimacy.
26th October 2023: US - Federal: House Republicans have elected representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the new House speaker after the position vacancy stalled business in the House for three weeks. Johnson’s ascension to speaker does not bode well for cannabis reform, as he has consistently voted against all cannabis reform bills while in Congress, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Specifically, Johnson has voted twice against previous iterations of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, with its latest version (SAFER Banking Act) finally advancing in the Senate. Because Johnson will wield significant power over which bills receive a floor vote in the House, the chances of the SAFER Banking Act passing in the House appear bleak.
24th October 2023: UK: Today (24th October), the government announced that it accepts the advice on CBD consumer products from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), in particular, the recommendation to limit the dose of delta-9 THC – including delta-9 THCA and all other controlled phytocannabinoids – to 50 µg per unit of consumption. The government plans to put forward legislation that will have to be approved in Parliament.
17th October 2023: New Zealand: The Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe) has reclassified CBD from a prescription-only medicine to a restricted (pharmacist-only) medicine. This will allow registered pharmacists to supply patients with approved low-dose CBD medicines without prescription. Currently, there are no low-dose CBD-containing medicines approved under the country’s laws.
13th October 2023: UK: Yesterday (12th October), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued new precautionary advice on edible CBD, which it says should be limited to 10 mg per day (about four to five drops of 5% CBD oil) for healthy adults. The announcement explains that the recommendation is based on new evidence from the industry and updated advice from the independent scientific committee. FSA CEO Emily Miles said: “We understand that this change to our advice will have implications for products currently on the market that contain more than 10 mg of CBD per serving. We will be working closely with industry to minimise the risk, to ensure consumers are not exposed to potentially harmful levels of CBD.”
9th October 2023: Italy: The Ministry of Health has decided to appeal the decision of the Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) to suspend the decree that places “the compositions for oral administration of cannabidiol obtained from Cannabis extracts” in the table of medicines in the Narcotics Act. The suspension will remain in effect until 24th October, the day on which the TAR is expected to rule on the legitimacy of the decree.
5th October 2023: Italy: The Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) has suspended the decree that places “the compositions for oral administration of cannabidiol obtained from Cannabis extracts” in the table of medicines in the Narcotics Act until 24th October, local media reports. The ruling has not been published yet.
5th October 2023: EU: Yesterday (4th October), the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) pre-published the cannabis flower monograph adopted in June this year. Although the monograph will be fully published in January 2024, the Ph. Eur. decided to make the monograph immediately available "given the exceptionally high interest from stakeholders in having access to the new text as soon as possible". The monograph, which will be implemented as of 1st July 2024, added new requirements – including in the limits for content and in the production section – for manufacturers of cannabis flowers who wish to market their products for medicinal purposes in the signatory states of the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia. A webinar to present the new monograph to stakeholders will be held on 14th December 2023.