Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she made if the implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the APPG on CBD products entitled Plan for a Legal and Regulated UK Hemp and Cannabis Sector, published on 29 July 2022, on (a) the potential effect of reviewing CBD legislation on urban and rural job creation and tax income for the Government and (b) the potential effect on the CBD industry of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs proposals for the dosage threshold of 50 micrograms of controlled phytocannabinoids per unit of consumption, made to her Department by that body on 17 December 2021.

No specific assessment has been made of the implications of the APPG CBD report on the potential effects on employment and taxation of a review of CBD legislation.

In January 2021, the Home Office wrote to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) seeking the Council’s advice on how we can strengthen the law on consumer CBD products.

This followed concerns that some CBD products being sold for human consumption may contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), a controlled drug compound found within the cannabis plant, making these products likely to be unlawful.

The ACMD published their report on 17 December 2021, recommending changes to the law. We are in the process of considering their findings and the Government will respond in due course.