Australian hemp farmers and suppliers have lost a court battle to continue to allow them to supply product to the cosmetic and pet food industries.
The judgement ruled in favour of the Department of Health’s decision to amend the Poisons Standard of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. This new amendment means that there are now stricter regulations in place for how much hemp can be used in topical products.
The Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance believes the amendments to the historic exemption will have a serious impact on business.
Vice president of the Hemp Alliance, James Vosper, told Cosmetics Business: “Our feeling about this judgement is that the law is unnecessarily stringent.
“The imposition of a 50 parts per million of total cannabinoids in topical products and pet foods is very low. As a comparison the standard for human foods is 65ppm. It is therefore legal for a person to eat a hemp product that cannot be used on their skin or fed to a pet.
“We understand the government’s wish to control (THC) levels and there are laws already in place that address this.
“There are more than 100 cannabinoids that have been isolated so far and more are being discovered. Cannabinoids other than THC, such as Cannabidiol (CBD) are not psychotropic and pose no danger or possibility of abuse.
“In addition, cannabinoids and cannabinoid-like substances are found in plants like St John’s Wort and in black pepper.”