In Ireland, pure CBD is not a controlled substance as per the Misuse of Drugs Act — however, it does fall into a legal gray area thanks to the European Novel Food Regulation.
The Novel Food Regulation is guidance from the
European Union that controls the placement of CBD products and other novel
foods on the market. A novel food is defined as a food that doesn’t have a long
history of consumption.
The regulation considers CBD a novel food because it doesn’t have a long history of use as a food
in the region. However, Ireland interprets this rule a little differently.
Read this all-inclusive guide to understand the
confusing and contradictory Irish CBD laws. We’ll cover how these laws work,
and how and where you can buy legal CBD products if you live in Ireland.
Let’s get started.
Summary: Buying CBD in
Ireland
Order from local Irish CBD companies such as Dr. Hemp Me
Cultivation of hemp varieties with less than 0.2% THC is legal in Ireland
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (MDA 1977) prohibits hemp derivatives that contain THC
In Ireland, CBD extracted with solvents and CO2 are considered novel foods
Pure CBD is not banned under the MDR 1977, but it’s restricted under the Novel Food Regulation
To be entirely legal, CBD must be cold-pressed and 100% free from THC
CBD isolate products remain stuck in the legal grey area, depending on their extraction method
Medical CBD is not authorized in Ireland for the general public — medical access is granted on a case-by-case basis
You can buy CBD in-store or online, but you’d be doing this at your own risk — customs may seize your product at the border
You can use a mail forwarding service to order CBD from brands that don’t offer to ship directly to Ireland
At the moment, the best place to get CBD products in Ireland is to order them online from Irish CBD companies (Dr. Hemp Me).
Most CBD brands will also ship to Ireland, but it’s best to go with European brands like Kiara Naturals, Endoca, or Nordic oil.
CBD is stuck in a legal grey area in Ireland — which means there’s always a risk of customs seizing your product even if it’s THC-free. However, the pressure from customs and police has mostly focused on local shops selling CBD products on store shelves.
There’s a silver lining in all this mess — the Irish government is considering complete cannabis legalization — which could bring friendlier CBD laws across the country. Once the regulations loosen you’ll be able to shop for various CBD products including the standard CO2 extracted isolates and full-spectrum hemp oils.
Is CBD Legal in Ireland?
Ireland has contradictory CBD laws depending on how
the CBD was obtained, and what format the CBD product is classified under.
Ireland follows the EU ruling that allows hemp plants that contain 0.2% THC or
less. Here’s the contradiction — this doesn’t apply to hemp-derived CBD
products. No CBD products are allowed to contain any THC whatsoever.
Additionally, Ireland doesn’t allow any CBD products
made from CO2 or solvent extraction — which is the best way to produce THC-free
products.
Below we’ll cover a few pieces of Irish law that
define these contradictory rules, and examine what types of CBD products are
legal in Ireland.
CBD
& the Novel Food Regulation
The first obstacle for CBD comes from the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, which prohibits cannabis (including hemp) derivatives that contain any trace of THC.
At first, it sounds like CBD products are completely illegal, but this isn’t exactly the case.
Irish rules on CBD stand in line with the European
Union’s Novel Food Regulation. This regulation classifies CBD as a novel food,
which doesn’t have a significant history of consumption in Europe before May
15, 1997.
Besides the “history of consumption” rule, the Irish authorities included an additional standard for CBD products — the type of the extraction process.
According to Irish laws, CBD extracted with solvents or supercritical CO2 extraction requires a novel food permit from the European Commission (EC). Otherwise, it can’t be marketed as a food product or health supplement.
However, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) stated that if the CBD oil is extracted by cold pressing it is legal for sale.It should be noted that cold pressing hemp plants to make CBD products is not common, and usually produces a lower-grade product in the end.
How Irish Regulators Differentiate Between Hemp & Marijuana
Hemp and marijuana both belong to the species Cannabis sativa, but they are different in chemical makeup
and their purpose of use.
One of the significant differences between hemp and marijuana is the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration. THC is one of the constituents of cannabis, known for its psychoactive effects. In marijuana, THC is present in large amounts and is therefore related to recreational cannabis.
1.
Marijuana Laws in Ireland
Marijuana
is a term used to describe cannabis with high THC levels — its THC content can
go up to 30%. Under EU law, marijuana is any cannabis plant with more than
0.2%, and Ireland abides by this rule.
2. Hemp Laws in Ireland
Unlike
marijuana, cannabis doesn’t contain significant amounts of THC and doesn’t
induce the high associated with recreational use.
In
Ireland, hemp cultivation is permitted if the hemp plant doesn’t exceed the
0.2% limit. Due to its rich CBD content, hemp is becoming the focal point in
the cannabis industry where its used for textiles, food, and health
supplementation.
What is Cold-Pressed CBD?
If you’ve read about the ways CBD extracts are made,
you probably know that the most common extraction methods include solvents
(ethanol, butane, propane, or alcohol) and CO2.
Cold pressing is a lesser-known extraction method when it comes to CBD. Typically, this process is used for hemp seed oil, pressed from the plant’s seeds (which don’t contain any cannabinoids). However, some companies have started using cold pressing methods to produce CBD to comply with Ireland’s regulations.
So, how does this work?
The raw hemp is processed through a cold press machine that uses a hydraulic press with extremely high pressure to squeeze out the juice from hemp that carries phytonutrients, oils, terpenes, and cannabinoids.
In order to prevent the massive amount of friction
from overheating the hemp as it’s being pressed, the whole thing needs to be
kept cold.
While this extraction method is efficient for
companies that operate in countries with restrictive rules, it’s far from
perfect.
The novel food rule jeopardizes the legal status of
CBD isolate products. Although no law restricts CBD isolates, it becomes an
illegal substance if it’s extracted with solvents or supercritical CO2. The
only way to obtain pure CBD isolates (free from terpenes and other
cannabinoids) is via CO2 extraction or with the use of solvents. Because of
this, CBD isolate products are caught in the crossfire — thus living in a legal
grey area.
Currently, there’s only one company in Ireland that produces cold-pressed CBD oil with less than 0.005% THC. These products are listed as being “full-spectrum”.
Currently, Green Light’s full-spectrum CBD is available through pharmacies in Ireland and the UK.
NOTE: Technically, Green Light
complies with the law because it contains non-detectable amounts of THC. The
company most likely achieved this by sourcing hemp plants that naturally
produce less than 0.005% THC by weight.
Local stores in Ireland still sell CBD (mostly isolate products), and online stores operate even more freely — they sell both CBD isolates and full-spectrum CBD. A large portion of these products fall under the novel food rule, but their sale is not regularly enforced due to the complexity and contradiction in the laws governing their sale and use.
The police have raided a few Irish shops selling
unregulated CBD products.
NOTE: Avoid purchasing any THC-containing CBD products. If the customs notice your product, you could receive a penalty under the Customs Acts rules, and the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Tips on Buying High-Quality CBD in Ireland
The CBD market in Ireland is far from ideal. On the
contrary — it’s chaotic, and you’ll often bump into illegal or
low-quality products if you don’t shop cautiously.
Here’s how you can find high-quality CBD products online:
1. Do Thorough Research on Brands
Before You Purchase CBD
It’s
essential to buy from reputable brands because they’ve already built trust with
their customers and are less likely to risk losing this reputation by
compromising on the quality of their products.
2. Shop for CBD Isolates Over
Full-Spectrum Hemp Extracts
Refrain
from buying CBD that contains THC. CBD in its pure form is not illegal, and
although it’s a subject to the novel food rule, it’s somewhat tolerated by
Irish lawmakers. The only fully compliant CBD oils are those extracted by cold
pressing.
3. Ask Your Seller for a
Certificate of Analysis (CoA)
The CoA is a document that proves the CBD was tested for quality and safety by a third party. If a seller provides you with this certificate, he or she guarantees the product’s purity.
4. Avoid Companies That
Exaggerate the Health Benefits of CBD
There is no authorized CBD for medical use in Ireland, but many sellers continue to label and advertise the products as a panacea. Remember, CBD has many benefits, but it’s not a cure-all.
How Mail Forwarding Works
Some companies won’t ship CBD to Ireland directly — so
the only way to get these products delivered is to use a mail forwarding
service. Mail forwarding companies provide you with a local address in another
country which is then directed to your final address.
Here’s how mail forwarding works.
1. Sign up for an Account
Go to the mail forwarding company’s website to make an
account. Upon registration, the company will give you a local address that you
can use to shop online in foreign countries.
You should find a company that can provide you with an
address in the region you want to shop in.
Shipito can provide you with a US address. If you want to
shop in Europe, we recommend Skypax. There are other companies as well where you can register
for a mail forwarding service.
2. Place Your CBD Order
When you receive the local address, you’ll be able to
make online purchases. To shop from a specific company that doesn’t ship to
your country, order the product you want and insert the local address as your
shipping destination. Your package will first arrive at this address, and the
staff from the mail forwarding company will change its stamps with new ones and
forward the parcel to your home address.
You can also ask the company to place an order for
you. This concierge service comes at a small fee, but it can be worth your
money if you don’t want to spend your time shopping.
Skypax Rates:
Tier of
Service
Sign up Fee
Annual Fee
Average Shipping Fee
Standard
Membership (If
you only need the service every once in a while)
£12 setup
($15 USD)
None
£30
($36 USD)
Premium
membership
(If you order CBD regularly and want protection on your packages)
£0
£90
($110 USD)
£30
($36 USD)
A Brief History of Cannabis
Laws in Ireland
Cannabis has been
used in Ireland for well over ten centuries.
Hemp was mostly grown during British rule (12th – 20th century). In the 17th century, Queen Elizabeth made hemp cultivation obligatory to supply ropes and sails for the British navy, and farmers would produce the crop to supply British factories.
Hemp was also grown locally for domestic use and in the Irish textiles industry. British authorities banned Irish wool products, leading farmers to depend on hemp crops.
Throughout most of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ireland continued to grow hemp for the British Military. In the second half of the 19th century, Irish scholars emphasized hemp’s potential in advancing the country’s development. George Sigerson — an Irish scholar — wrote Cannabiculture in Ireland; its profit and possibility. He encouraged farmers and the state to cultivate hemp for the economic growth of Ireland.
During the same period, physician William O’Shaughnessy was researching the medical use of cannabis. While working in India, O’Shaughnessy treated a young girl suffering from convulsive seizures with hemp tincture. The parents of the child noticed an improvement in her health, and this case dubbed William O’Shaughnessy the father of modern-day cannabis therapeutics.
Ireland suffered
a hemp shortage during the Irish War of Independence (1919 – 1921) forcing
Ireland to import the crop from Russia. After the war in Ireland stabilized,
universities progressed in hemp research, focusing primarily on hemp seed oil
and its benefits.
Ireland
re-introduced hemp cultivation in the 1990s when the European Union provided
subsidies to hemp farmers.
Today, the
cultivation of hemp varieties with less than 0.2% is permitted, while
recreational cannabis (marijuana) is completely prohibited. Medical use, on the
other hand, is granted on a case-by-case basis.
Ireland’s CBD market is chaotic — to say the
least. Buying CBD is difficult here as a result of the many confusing laws.
CBD is entirely legal only if it’s extracted by cold
pressing and is completely void of THC. You can buy CBD isolate products, but
your product should comply with the extraction rule — otherwise, it can be
considered both legal and illegal
depending on the laws cited.
Despite all
these rules, CBD isolate products are tolerated in Ireland and sold in both
local and online stores.
On the other hand, Gardai (Irish police) and customs
will likely confiscate any product that contains THC, so avoid importing
full-spectrum CBD.
As we mentioned earlier, Ireland might legalize
cannabis soon, which would open the door for more CBD products in the near
future.
For now, we recommend you remain cautious when purchasing CBD both in-store and online. This way, you’ll avoid spending your money on low-quality products or falling into legal trouble with the police.
Have you ordered CBD products in Ireland? Share your experience below.
