Cannabis Light: High CBD, Low THC. A New Hype?

Cannabis Light is the latest cannabis hype coming out of Europe, where several countries have loopholes allowing the growth and sale of cannabis containing low THC (usually less than 1%) and high CBD levels. It’s already big business.

Cannabis Light causing normalisation

The loopholes were only discovered a couple years ago. Switzerland was the first country in 2016 to decriminalize cannabis with less than 1% THC as a tobacco substitute.

Italy would follow quickly when a law regulating hemp production went into effect. Originally designed for industrial hemp, the Italian government however, forgot to regulate the hemp flowers.

The difference between Switzerland and Italy mainly being Cannabis Light is regulated as tobacco in Switzerland, while in Italy Cannabis Light cannot be ‘smoked or eaten’.

Visiting the Cannabis Light farms

To really understand the green wave Cannabis Light is producing, we went on a road trip to Cannabis Light farms in Switzerland and Italy.

As you can see, it looks very much like the images you are used to seeing from the Green Triangle in California.

And in other European countries?

Cannabis Light can also be found in several other European countries, including Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, and France. But, as this article points out, it doesn’t always work out well. Several Cannabis Light coffeeshops opened in Paris, but were quickly shut down and under investigation by the French government.

Meanwhile, Canadian cannabis companies are already investing in Cannabis Light farms in Italy.

Response of the WHO, EU, and UN

And there’s European CBD regulation on the rise, which could make the lives of these Cannabis Light farmers a lot more difficult. If the proposed language becomes law, CBD will be regulated by pharmaceutical standards as shown in our report on CBD in the European Union:

All this is happening while the WHO is advising the UN to adopt cannabis rescheduling recommendations.

For our next report we continue to follow policy developments, as we’ll be heading to Vienna (Austria) to attend the the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (from 5-7 December) and the International Cannabis Policy Conference in the United Nations quarter of Vienna, from 7th to 9th December 2018.

Produced in cooperation with Clara Sativa.