European Commission
Sativa Wellness Group plc (LON:SWEL) has confirmed that the European Commission (EC), the executive branch of the European Union (EU), has concluded that CBD (Cannabidiol) is not considered to be a drug within the meaning the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, following the recent landmark ruling from the EU’s highest court. As a consequence, the EC confirmed that CBD qualifies as a food, and is therefore subject to EU law on the free movement of goods among member states.
Subsequently, the European Food Safety Authority (EU FSA) has resumed reviewing novel food authorisation applications for CBD products, a decision which is welcomed by the Company, which operates CBD extraction and production in the UK and Europe.
The Company intends to submit its novel food dossier that is being prepared for the UK Food Standards Agency (UK FSA) in parallel to the EU FSA, which will be a seamless process as the submission criteria for the two agencies are aligned.
United Nations
The United Nations has considered a number of recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to reclassify cannabis and its derivatives, and recently voted in favour to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 UN Single Convention, the category of the world’s most dangerous drugs.
The Company believes that this long-anticipated decision, whilst having no immediate effect on local government classification at a country level, opens the door to recognising the medicinal and therapeutic potential of cannabis, and paves the way for additional scientific research, such as the Companies research partnership with King’s College London into the efficacy of different cannabinoids in treating respiratory conditions.
US House of Representatives
The US House of Representatives recently passed a federal bill to decriminalise cannabis at the national level. Whilst cannabis has been decriminalised in several states in the US, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington, it remains illegal at the federal level. The House calls for removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and clears the way to erase certain federal convictions.
Whilst this bill is the first step to approval at the federal level – to become law, the bill needs to pass the Senate and be signed by the president – if passed into law, it would bridge the gap between state and federal legislation, and facilitate the emerging industry and access to medicinal cannabis across the US.
“Sativa Wellness welcomes the clarity that these regulatory updates bring to the CBD wellness and medicinal cannabis industry in Europe, the US and globally. We believe that a well-regulated cannabis sector will lead to consumers benefitting from safe, compliant and quality products, such as our Goodbody CBD brands, and opens the pathway for patients to benefit from further research into the efficacy of medicinal cannabis. This news will allow us to continue with our European expansion plans, and may facilitate the opening up of new markets in the future”, said Henry Lees-Buckley, CEO of the Sativa Wellness Group Inc.
The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
