Within the EU, cannabis products containing up to 0.2% THC are legal, and within Switzerland, up to 1% THC is permitted. More and more patients are discovering hemp for themselves, and many of them need this tetrahydrocannabinol, just like recreational users, at most for pleasure. Medically, however, cannabidiol helps them. This can provide perhaps not sufficient but significant relief for many other patients even without THC. Many seed banks like Royal Queen Seeds already have marijuana strains with medium-high THC and high CBD content in their program, which however remain criminalized. But what happens when seed banks like CBD Crew develop CBD strains that contain less than 1% or for the EU less than 0.2% THC? Can you now simply grow this marijuana and provide your own medical treatment?
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You Can’t Just Grow THC-Free Hemp Yourself
These CBD strains can already be found in seed distribution. The retailers naturally don’t have their headquarters in countries like Germany, where there’s a hemp seed ban for hemp seeds from which potent plants can grow. From Spain, the Netherlands, or other countries, however, they can ship EU-wide, and when sent in a letter, postal secrecy applies. Especially in Germany, customs may not simply open these discreet letters without getting prior approval from a judge. That’s why this almost never happens. You can therefore order a CBD strain over the internet very safely if you’re located in the EU and it’s shipped from within the EU.
In Switzerland, the situation looks different again, as there’s been or still is successful screening for hemp seeds. Those living in Switzerland should rather buy their CBD strains during a trip and mix them into muesli that otherwise contains no hemp. At home, you can quickly find the seeds again.
Is It Legal to Grow CBD Strains?
In Germany, hemp cultivation generally requires a permit. Even for fiber hemp, this cultivation permit is only granted to farmers for EU-certified industrial hemp varieties, and only if they properly handle all the formalities. For the cultivation of potent hemp, no or almost no cultivation permits have been granted so far, though this might look different starting in 2017.
This means that cultivating CBD strains with up to 0.2% THC might not be a serious crime, but would at least be a criminalized offense. However, the police and not the municipal authority would appear, even if the hemp isn’t even flowering yet. One would automatically exceed the small amount for which the prosecutor could dismiss charges with a single harvested plant. Although very little THC would be contained and probably not much would happen, growing a CBD strain would not simply be legal.
In Austria, on the other hand, hemp cultivation is legal as long as it doesn’t serve „narcotic production.“ However, anyone who puts potent hemp into flowering can’t talk their way out of the suspicion of doing exactly that and automatically ends up before a judge. You can legally buy and grow cuttings and hemp seeds, but with potent plants, you’re not allowed to let them flower. With a CBD strain containing less than 0.2% THC, however, it’s not about „narcotic production,“ so this can simply be cultivated and put into flowering. Since EU countries have their own regulations alongside EU laws, it would even be conceivable that a somewhat higher THC content wouldn’t yet be interpreted as „narcotic production.“
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Anyone ordering CBD strain seeds from the EU to Switzerland might be lucky if they can say and prove that the flowers of this plant will contain less than one percent THC. Bird feed seeds are legal after all, and fiber hemp up to 1% THC has been legally grown in Switzerland for many years. Whether you need to get approval for this cultivation of CBD strains might vary from canton to canton. Having a friend who has nothing to fear ask at the office can’t hurt. Legal cultivation of a CBD strain with a THC content of less than one percent in the flowers is possible in any case, but might be subject to conditions.
For better understanding: Laws, rights, and regulations are always largely a matter of interpretation. In an emergency, you must be able to present yourself and your actions well. You shouldn’t think that these laws, rights, and regulations apply equally to everyone, and just because someone else could talk their way out of it, you’ll succeed too.
When Police Find Your CBD Strain
Should a patient get caught in a check, they have two problems. Anyone consuming CBD products with less than 0.2 or less than 1% THC in quantities will probably test positive for THC in a drug test and might lose their driver’s license without ever having driven while intoxicated.
The other problem is even lesser for many. The marijuana plants, marijuana flowers, hashish, or extract from the CBD strain look exactly like potent marijuana. The officer will never be able to see the difference from potent cannabis products with their eyes. Upon discovery, they will immediately search very thoroughly and confiscate everything to file charges. In Switzerland, only fines would have to be paid for small amounts, without the „Spanish Inquisition“ immediately moving in.
Everything will be examined afterward, and if nothing illegal was done, you can even get everything back with the help of a lawyer. However, it’s very unpleasant when officers first storm the house under the neighbors‘ gaze, and the next day everyone finds a newspaper article with nice photographs of the „narcotic plants.“ That it turns out weeks later that the CBD strain is completely legal, however, none of the said onlookers or readers will learn.
Furthermore, the question would have to be asked whether everything is really completely legal when you grow your CBD strain. Is there perhaps still the said „narcotic“ from which youth must be protected? The patient who really gets relief from CBD consumption and can do without THC should pay close attention that their pockets, vehicle, and apartment are clean and that they don’t commit or participate in criminalized „drug offenses.“ Then you should always be able to save yourself quickly in an emergency. Annoying and reputation-damaging, this „care“ by law enforcement authorities is nevertheless.
