There are mechanisms for the legal use of cannabinoids in Ukraine
In order to legally grow and use therapeutic hemp flowers, you do not need to make any changes to the current regulatory framework at all. In order for biologically active / food / feed additives to be legally sold on the national market, the approval of state structures responsible for the registration of pharmaceuticals is not required. Their manufacturers must provide reasonable evidence that marketed products that contain drug-free cannabinoids are safe to use until they are marketed - i.e. the official registration procedure is ten times cheaper and faster than that provided for pharmacological preparations.
October 14, during the round table “ Experience of using the therapeutic elements of technical hemp as raw materials for food, cosmetic preparations, biologically active or feed additives ”, held as part of the 5th course of training for students of the “ Hemp University ” by specialists of the information and consulting platform Hemp Consultingthe concept of amending the current legislation of our country will be presented, which will allow already in 2021 to use the therapeutic properties of drug-free cannabinoids as efficiently as possible. In connection with the above, the editors of the specialized electronic publication of Ukrainian cannabis growers asked the developers of this concept to mark with strokes what exactly they are talking about and how the concept developed by them differs from the idea of amending laws related to the possibility of using cannabis for medical purposes. The answers to the questions posed by us are stated without any editorial changes.
The concern of officials of the relevant government agencies regarding the safety of the use of drug-free cannabinoids is understandable. On the one hand, there is currently no clear information on how drug-free cannabinoids interact with other drugs, what is their effect on liver function, long-term effects of use, etc. On the other hand, including the active “promotion” of the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids using the mass media has already led to the formation of demand for the products and drugs in which they are included.
At the heart of the question facing government agencies about the mechanisms for regulating the use of drug-free cannabinoids is the problem of whether their use should be allowed as a dietary supplement or their widespread use should be limited by giving them the status of a pharmaceutical ingredient.
That is why it is extremely interesting research related to obtaining statistics on the use of cannabidiol (currently the most widespread non-drug cannabinoid) by consumers in the United States. The data set out below demonstrates that 91% of users used cannabidiol mainly for non-medical purposes, including pain relief and general relaxation. Those. only 9% of US consumers use cannabidiol for medicinal purposes (the data is absolutely correlated with similar studies conducted in Uruguay).
The main reason for using cannabidiol
It is necessary to understand that in our country there is already a legal legal mechanism for using the leaves and inflorescences of technical hemp of therapeutic orientation of national varieties that have a huge therapeutic effect. At the initial stage, it is necessary to bring the information to consumers about how quickly, cheaply, legally and effectively it is already possible to use hemp flowers grown in the legal legal field of our country for treatment or recovery. Based on the experience of using the leaves and inflorescences of therapeutic hemp, it is possible to raise the question of regulating the possibility of legal introduction to the market of biologically active / food / feed additives that have a huge therapeutic effect. To do this, you do not need to make changes to the existing laws or by-laws (an extremely long and costly process). You just need to prepare an interdepartmental document, as is done in all civilized countries, where you indicate the maximum allowable amount of tetrahydrocannabinol in final products / goods (there is a “Swiss” or “German” version of this kind of regulatory acts).
It should be understood that the approval process as a pharmaceutical product is administratively complicated all over the world, including because it requires lengthy and expensive clinical trials - i.e. investment of millions of dollars and several years of research. Even after completing the entire procedure, there is no guarantee that the state authorities regulating this issue will issue the relevant documents. Therefore, in this matter, national pharmaceutical companies are uncompetitive in comparison with their counterparts from Canada, Holland, and other economically developed countries, which have not only already developed and patented the corresponding pharmacological drugs, but are also “eager” to sell them to any market where this kind of drugs just opens possibility.
In turn, in order to legally grow and also use therapeutic hemp flowers, there is no need to make any changes to the current regulatory framework. In order for biologically active / food / feed additives to be legally sold on the national market, the approval of state structures responsible for the registration of pharmaceuticals is not required. Their manufacturers must provide reasonable evidence that marketed products that contain drug-free cannabinoids are safe to use until they are marketed - i.e. the official registration procedure is ten times cheaper and faster than that provided for pharmacological preparations.
These postulates are the foundation of our concept of a fast, cheap, legal, and also the most effective way of using the therapeutic properties of cannabis by Ukrainian consumers. Moreover, this method will make it possible to use the key property of the plant - the use for the treatment / improvement of all the therapeutic elements that make up the “green mass of the plant” (cannabinoids, terpenes, finols, flavonoids, terpenoids), which enhance each other's action, i.e. using the so-called “ensemble effect”.