Signage at the Found CBD cafe in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, August 11, 2022. As Hong Kong takes … [+]
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Hong Kong is moving towards cracking down on the unregulated CBD market, targeting companies specializing in CBD-infused drinks and other products later this year.
A government proposal presented in June aims to control CBD as a dangerous drug by listing the substance in Schedule One of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (DDO).
As a result, CBD will be scheduled as a dangerous drug in Hong Kong.
Authorities will implement a ban on the manufacture, import, export, supply, sale, possession and transshipment of CBD, except for prescribed CBD products used for medical purposes or with a license issued by the Department of Health.
The CBD ban follows Hong Kong’s zero-tolerance policy on THC products.
Possession of a dangerous drug is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of HK$1 million (about US$127,000), while trafficking is subject to a fine of HK$5,000,000 Hong Kong (about $637,000) and life imprisonment.
Local authorities claim that CBD can be intentionally converted to THC and have found traces of THC in CBD products sold in the city.
They claimed that current technology is not capable of removing traces of THC from CBD products, which could also naturally break down into the illegal active ingredient.
Hong Kong law enforcement agencies have carried out more than 120 such operations since 2019, seizing more than 4,100 items, a third of which contain THC, according to tests carried out by the Government Laboratory.
In an interview with BloombergFiachra Mullen, Marketing Director of Altum International Ltd. and owner of Found, a CBD cafe and shop, said that with a total CBD ban in Hong Kong, businesses would likely be forced to shut down their CBD-related operations.
According to the Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper South China Morning Post, Hong Kong would give consumers and businesses a “reasonable time” to dispose of the products or consume them.
To avoid a wholesale ban on CBD products, industry players are proposing testing in government-licensed laboratories to ensure there is no THC in their products.
Since Hong Kong people have a long history of using natural herbal remedies to treat a wide range of conditions on their own, they quickly embraced CBD.
Unlike THC, CBD has no intoxicating effects. It is used to treat a variety of conditions, and its consumers report that it helps relieve anxiety, pain, and stress.
Therefore, the use of CBD has been seen as a natural extension of Hong Kong’s tradition of natural herbs.
When Canada legalized cannabis for adults in 2018, Hong Kong said in a open letter CBD was no longer classified as a dangerous drug.
The CBD market grew in Hong Kong as companies sold it as additives to food, drinks and cosmetic products, although they operate in a gray area as companies cannot claim its medical benefits unless the product is classified as a prescription medicine.
Since Hong Kong is nominally semi-autonomous from mainland China under the “one country, two systems” principle, the announcement to ban CBD products may have followed mainland China’s footsteps in cracking down on CBD.
In fact, Beijing banned the use of CBD in the production of cosmetics last year, even though the country is believed to be the world’s largest producer of hemp.
Although the use of CBD in the cosmetics and beauty industry is trending in Asia, CBD regulations on the Asian continent vary significantly from country to country, as some do not legally distinguish between hemp used with industrial purposes and cannabis for adults.
In terms of medical cannabis and adult cannabis legislation in the region, Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalize recreational cannabis for personal use earlier this year after becoming the first Southeast Asian country to legalize medical cannabis in 2018.