WHO Recommends Removing Hemp CBD from International Control
The WHO, World Health Organization, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released, on January 31, 2019, exciting new proposals for CBD: particularly, that any CBD hemp product with less than 0.2% of THC should be 100% removed from international control.
Doing this would mean CBD from industrial hemp would be excluded completely from the worldwide, international controlled substance schedules making it a game changer for both consumers and the international industry.
In the report, the World Health Organization recommended adding a footnote to Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention of Narcotic Drugs. Schedule I states the aim to combat drug abuse using international action limiting everything from production to possession of drugs for scientific and medical purposes as well as combating drug trafficking. As it sits, this includes CBD that contains trace amounts of THC so the WHO's footnote would add, “Preparations containing predominantly cannabidiol and not more than 0.2% of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol are not under international control.” Of course, any form of CBD would still be monitored to make sure it stays below the 0.2% THC limit but it would no longer be included as a drug.
A Critical International Distinction for CBD
Separating hemp from drugs will be an important distinction for CBD products if the WHO's recommendations are enforced worldwide. If CBD products that are made from industrial hemp is descheduled on an international level it will provide CBD access to a miraculous number of people around the world.
CBD Hemp regulations are still very different in each country. In the United States, the Farm Bill of late December 2018 was signed into law by President Trump giving nationwide access to CBD. Individual states are still trying to figure out how they are going to handle regulations but many are working fast to get the laws ironed out. Hopefully, this helps citizens of countries around the world to be able to enjoy access to the same benefits CBD is giving us in in the U.S.
Worldwide Hemp Markets Continue to Expand
While the news of the WHO’s new recommendations was breaking, the first-ever Asian Hemp Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal took place February 1 & 2, 2019.
The purpose of the summit was to get together all the industrial hemp representatives from Asia and countries around the world to scrutinize the state of Asia's industrial hemp market.
Represented countries included Australia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Mongolia, the U.S., and more.