The European Court of Justice had a progressive reading last November of the two international reference texts for CBD: the 1971 United Nations Convention on psychotropic substances and the United Nations Convention of 1961 on narcotics. It was concluded that CBD does not behave, in principle as a psychotropic drug and in the current state of scientific knowledge, cannot be qualified as a ‘narcotic.’ As a result, Articles 34 and 36 of the TFEU that guarantee free movement are, in principle, applicable.

The move was hailed by the food industry as a step forward in favor of ‘trendy’ products containing CBD. In the rest of the world, the signals seem less positive. Thailand, for example, has set new limits and the US FDA continues to sanction over-the-counter products.