Much like the ‘Spanish flu’ a century ago, the politics if not the processes of everyday life will change, perhaps almost unrecognisably, as the modern world meets the challenge of a continually mutating virus.
When it comes to the THC conversation, however, beyond Holland, Luxembourg and Switzerland are both moving towards a date certain for the beginning of their own recreational trials.
In Europe, generally speaking, cannabis as a plant genus is still considered to be a narcotic.
How these decisions will trickle down into sovereign governments is a big issue – but they are a good start.
Increased cross-border trade will begin to clear some of these issues too – although unfortunately still via legal action .
Beyond the overall classification of the plant itself, of course, there is the outstanding bugbear in the room – namely tetrahydrocannabinol , the best-known cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, which certainly has ‘narcotic’ qualities.
The fact that this is the case has already created challenges for one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical producers who graduated to medical cannabis several years ago.
While Novel Food applications have certainly been filed both in the EU and in the now-divorced UK, there are still many issues now pending, beginning with whether CBD extract can be defined as novel when it is derived from a European seed and further extracted via mainstream extraction procedures.
It may well be as the industry matures that this regulatory requirement is removed – particularly given the similarity of applications, not to mention new scientific examinations funded by the government.
Edibles will pose an especially interesting dilemma – will they fall under GMP or Novel Foods regulation? The answer to that question is likely to be found first in recreational markets – but it should be addressed on a regional basis.
Politically, cannabis reform is likely to show up in the national elections in Germany, particularly if the CDU faces as much of a challenge as it seems to be of late.
Cannabis as a plant, if not as a food or medicine, was deliberately left out of the mix in the last century as all of these systems and industries formalised.