Cannabis in brief: Luxembourg to vote on legalisation, Israel expands medical access, France’s bid to ban CBD cosmetics

Each week we bring you the latest news and regulatory developments in cannabis across Europe.

The top lines this week: Luxembourg prepares to vote on proposals for an adult-use experiment; Israel introduces new regulations to make it easier for patients to access cannabis on prescriptions and France makes a bid to ban CBD in cosmetic products in Europe.

Plus, a new CBD patent is filed to treat seizures in dogs and Plus, a new CBD patent is filed to treat seizures in dogs, Malta officials reveal they have received 26 applications for cannabis social clubs and new research on hemp could help farmers hit their Net Zero targets. 

Read more below.

Luxembourg to debate adult-use cannabis trial

Proposals to trial the legalisation of adult-use of cannabis in Luxembourg are expected to be debated and voted on in the week of Monday 26 June, according to the Chamber of Deputies.

Newsweed reports this week that the first phase of the experiment will see the decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use with possession limited to 3g in public, and the home cultivation of up to four plants.

The next phase will see the development of a state-controlled cannabis supply chain to regulate the sale of cannabis in Luxembourg. There will be a maximum purchase limit of 5g of cannabis per day and 30g per month. Certain products such as pre-rolled joints will not be authorised to discourage smoking.

The study will be monitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and various public health research institutions in the country, to evaluate whether the scheme improves public health. 

Israel makes medicinal cannabis more accessible 

Patients in Israel will be able to more easily access medicinal cannabis on prescription thanks to new legislation announced this week.

Until now, patients had to obtain a licence with the approval of the ministry of health, or certain specialist doctors in order to access a prescription. Under the new regulations,  those with a diagnosis of epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, dementia, autism (without an age limit), malignant cancers, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, and terminally ill patients whose life expectancy does not exceed six months, will no longer need a licence.

Instead, doctors who have undergone training (not including family doctors, paediatricians or internal medicine specialists) will be able to directly write patients a prescription. 

France bids to ban CBD in cosmetics in Europe

France has launched a bid to ban the use of CBD in cosmetics in the EU. This week the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published the country’s intention to submit CBD to the registry of harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) due to its potential to cause reproductive toxicity.

The process starts with the notification of the intention and ends with the adoption of the opinion of the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC). If the process is completed, CBD would be classified as a carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substance and banned from use in cosmetic products in Europe.

Meanwhile the European Commission has launched a call for scientific data to be submitted on the safety of CBD and other hemp-derived products in cosmetics, within the framework of the Cosmetic Products Regulation (CPR). The call for data is open from June 2023 -October 2024 and will be used to prepare a mandate for the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) to carry out a risk and data assessment.

Malta receives 26 applications for cannabis social clubs 

Earlier this month, the CEO of the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC), Leonid Mckay revealed that the authority has received 26 applications for the licensing of cannabis social clubs. However, he cautioned that this does not mean all applications will be accepted. 

Speaking to the press, Mckay has also warned that the commercialisation of cannabis is as dangerous as the illegal market, explaining that harm reduction must be put at the centre of the cannabis clubs’ policies and cannabis use must not be promoted.

In a press conference in mid-May, Malta’s Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms, Rebecca Buttigieg, and the head of ARUC, Leonid McKay, laid out the new set of ‘fine-tuned’ rules, which sought to address a number of issues. It comes as many grassroots, community growers have relayed the challenges they have faced with the application process. 

IGC Pharma secures patent for CBD to reduce seizures in dogs

IGC Pharma has received a patent allowance from Canadian regulators for the use of its proprietary cannabinoid formulation (IGC-501) in the treatment of seizures. The formulation is also said to have received an intent to grant from the European Patent Office, meaning it is now protected in the US, Canada, and certain European countries.

IGC provided animal data collected on dogs, showing the reduction in the number of seizures by using a combination of CBD and phenobarbital versus either alone. The company now intends to pursue the combination in further clinical trials.

UK research to explore economic and environmental potential of hemp

A new £5.9 million research project in the UK will explore the  potential of hemp to help UK farmers and growers reach their Net Zero targets and build farming resilience through diversifying their crops.

The Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping (CHCx3) is a four-year project, funded by Defra and led by crop science organisation NIAB, with support from a consortium of 22 industry and research partners.

In addition to evaluating their potential to enhance atmospheric carbon capture and sequestration, in the soil and crop-based products, CHCx3 will examine the effects of cultivation system and agronomy on economic returns and other environmental outcomes.

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