Losing green economy? Proposed UK THC limits in CBD risk cutting out hemp farmers, warns industry

25 Jan 2022 --- The UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD)’s new recommendations for the future of consumer CBD products could take a toll on domestic hemp farmers. 

This is according to a host of organizations who speak to NutritionInsight about this latest step toward cohesive regulation, which would limit THC consumption to 50 µg per unit – potentially driving industry away from flowering tops and toward CBD isolates.

However, other stakeholders are cautiously welcoming the news as a step forward. 

“We very much welcome ACMD’s recommendations, and it is a step in the right direction for the UK to be competitive with the rest of the world,” says Dr. Parveen Bhatarah, regulatory and compliance lead at the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI) and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC).

“On the whole, the report has been received well by industry, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all issue. There needs to be more thought about certain food products like hemp seed oil – not just CBD tinctures and gummies,” adds Siân Phillips, executive director of Cannabis Trades Association. 

However, Rebekah Shaman, managing director at the British Hemp Alliance, points out that some top government officials are funding medical cannabis, but they are not “opening the pot” for everyone. 

“If the recommendations are carried out, the only people profiting will be the pharmaceutical and ‘new science’ research labs that have the ear of the government who are shareholders in these areas,” she argues.The ACMD was commissioned in January 2021 to advise the government on establishing a legal framework for consumer CBD products.

What comes now?
The report, which has been a year in the making, was commissioned by the UK government to help it establish a legal framework. 

The next steps now are to agree on the availability of controlled cannabinoid reference markers, notes Bhatarah.

“[We can then] have one standardized and harmonized methodology for the UK CBD industry to take a global lead in building the sustainable future for the CBD industry,” she adds. 

Setting THC limits
ACMD notes although it was asked at commissioning to recommend appropriate levels of THC in consumer CBD products, this is difficult to achieve. 

“A major challenge for recommending a single dose level for THC is how applicable it is to consumer CBD products consumed by different routes of administration,” states ACMD chair Owen Bowden-Jones and chair of Consumer CBD products working group Graeme Henderson. 

Therefore, they note that setting a single concentration limit that applies to all consumer CBD products would not be appropriate. 

However, the report does contain recommendations for the next steps, highlighting the importance for the Home Office to work with regulatory authorities. 

The ACMD created a working group that reviewed CBD-related literature, consulted with industry and issued a public call for evidence, among other activities.

Among other recommendations are:

• THC and other controlled phytocannabinoids should be controlled, with each one not exceeding 50 µg per unit of consumption.
• Commission another interlaboratory comparison trial to detect controlled phytocannabinoids below the recommended maximum levels. 
• More accurate testing for controlled phytocannabinoids.

ACMD also acknowledges that the extraction of controlled phytocannabinoids from consumer CBD products is unlikely to be a viable means of obtaining these drugs for illicit use. Additionally, at the recommended levels, the controlled phytocannabinoids present in consumer CBD products are highly unlikely to produce any harmful effects.

Room for improvement
Bhatarah applauds ACMD for re-evaluating the controlled cannabinoid limit and increasing it. 

“[It’s also a positive move than ACMD is] proposing to do further ring trials to create evidence-based data to show industry is compliant.”

However, she also identifies numerous ways the recommendations could be improved, such as acknowledging that the current regulations are “not scientifically sound.”

“We also need the reference standards for all the controlled cannabinoids freely available. There should further be validation for the CBD analytical methodology, along with the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) for controlled cannabinoids.” 

Spotlight on hemp
Kyle Esplin, chair of the Scottish Hemp Association, also highlights the report’s shortcomings surrounding hemp. 

He notes that restricting THC to 50 µg per unit means that if consuming hemp seed oil with a standard 10ppm trace THC, there would be a limit to a 5ml serving.

“To those who say the rules don’t apply to hemp seed oil, that’s the point. The UK doesn’t appear to have a THC limit for hemp seed oil, and it is unreasonable to expect CBD products to contain less per serving than hempseed oil does.”According to the ACMD, the most commonly sold CBD product is currently CBD oil, but supplements, drinks, cosmetics and vaping liquids are also popular. 

Missing out on wealth creation
Esplin further notes that the ACMD’s recommendations would hamper UK farmers aspiring to sell flowering tops for a domestic CBD market. 

Shaman also emphasizes that by only allowing isolates and synthetic CBD in the marketplace, the recommendations would stop domestic farmers from having access to this cash crop. 

“If the AMCD report is accepted, we lose the possibility of hemp becoming a cash crop, and its potential to ignite the local and domestic and green economy, create jobs and wealth creation,” she emphasizes. 

Taking CBDA into account
Esplin continues to raise the issues of hemp consumers who are now being labeled as “CBD consumers” but actually want low-temperature CBDA (a CBD precursor) dominant hemp oils.

“These oils do not fit the novel foods process – no CBDA-dominant are oils going through the novel foods process.” 

He continues that CBDA-stabilized isolate is not the answer either as industry must be able to supply products consumers want to facilitate the growth of a domestic industry.

“The majority of CBD companies applying for novel foods are avoiding hempseed oil in their CBD oil blends as a carrier. That is the context people need to understand as to how suitable the regulation is for the hemp industry.”

According to the ACI, the UK has “improbably” become the world’s second-largest consumer cannabinoids market after the US, spending more on cannabis extracts domestically than vitamin B and C combined. 

However, its regulation remains hazy, especially in the wake of Brexit. Last March, industry also spoke out against regulatory proposals around THC limits in products. 

By Katherine Durrell