Last week, the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published an official recommendation that the THC limit on industrial hemp should be raised to 0.3%, bringing it in line with the EU.
While this may seem like a minor change, it could have major implications for UK hemp farmers and for the hemp industry at large.
Not only will increase the number of seed varieties available to UK farmers, enabling them to select specific strains more suited to the country’s climate, but it has also provided a solid science-based foundation for further reform to be built upon.
Nicholas Morland, Co-Founder and CEO of Tenacious Labs, told Business of Cannabis: “This is a much more significant development than people realise.
“It’s actually a very material step forward and marks the start of momentum in the right direction, where we’ve previously had very little. For the first time, this allows the science to come through without being influenced by specific interests, which is incredibly exciting. This feels like a pivotal piece of the puzzle.”
ACMD Recommendation
In April, Business of Cannabis reported that the UK Home Office had announced some significant changes to its licensing framework for the country’s industrial hemp industry.
Among these changes, which included enabling farmers to grow hemp anywhere on their farm, deferring start dates for cultivation licenses, and extending the duration of licences, the Home Office asked the ACMD to ‘provide advice on whether the THC permissible in industrial hemp varieties could be safely raised to 0.3%’.
Now, six months later, the ACMD has published this advice, recommending the change and recognising that the ‘potential benefits outweigh any increased risk of harms’.
“There may be potential economic and environmental benefits to an increase in the maximum THC content in industrial hemp which is expected to provide growers with access to substantially more hemp varieties [Madden et al, 2022]. The proposed increase in THC content would also increase the markets to which the UK could export industrial hemp,” the ACMD stated.
Should the government move to follow through with the change, the ACMD suggests revisiting the issue in two years time given that the EU only made a similar move in 2023, meaning that there is little ‘evidence as to the impact this change has had on diversion at present’.
Alongside this recommendation, the ACMD has also recommended that the fee structure be changed to align with the new THC levels.
This will mean growers will pay £580 for a licence to produce hemp with a THC level ‘not exceeding’ 0.3%, rather than the £4700 which used to be required for any plants over the 0.2% threshold.
Tony Reeves, Board Member and UK Representative of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), said: “We welcome this progressive move by the ACMD to support an increase of THC ‘in the field’ from 0.2% to 0.3%.
“This would align the UK with the EU and North America and help facilitate international trade for local operators. We are optimistic this development represents a new willingness to back the UK hemp industry with all the consumer, environmental and economic benefits it represents.”
New Seed Varieties
One of the key benefits for cultivators would be a significant expansion of the number of seed varieties they are able to grow legally.
Mr Morland explained: “Moving from 0.2 to 0.3% THC is highly significant—it opens the door to a wider variety of seed types. If you’re growing in the Hebrides versus Cornwall or Suffolk, it’s worth optimising for a local seed type.
“From what I remember, the number of commercially viable seed types goes from five or six to fifty or sixty.”
However, this does not yet mean that farmers will automatically be able to grow these new varieties of hemp.
Following Brexit, the UK has diverged from the EU seed catalogue system, meaning that the EU seed catalogue no longer applies automatically in the UK.
Jamie Bartley, CEO of Unyte and leading expert on the UK’s hemp industry, told Business of Cannabis that ‘only varieties that meet UK-specific regulatory requirements, particularly those listed on the UK’s own national seed list or the OECD list, can be legally cultivated.’
He continued: “In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) now oversees a separate process for approving hemp seed varieties.
“Currently, DEFRA has not automatically adopted the EU catalogue for new varieties. This means that, for a new variety not already on the UK national list, farmers would need to apply for permission, and the variety would undergo a separate approval process, administered by the ADHB & NIAB.
“So, while UK farmers do not automatically have access to the additional varieties in the EU catalogue, specific varieties can be requested for approval on a case-by-case basis. This divergence has created some limitations on variety choice and regulatory complexity for UK hemp farmers looking to grow newly developed EU-registered varieties.”
While the divergence for the EU has made this more complex for hemp farmers, Mr Bartley says that the ACMD recommendations were ‘another positive step for the hemp industry in the UK’, helping to derisk the growing impact of climate change, with extreme temperatures naturally increasing the cannabinoid concentration in crops.
As a proposed solution to this issue, Mr Morland believes the government ‘should create a regulated list of approved seeds’, suggesting that measuring THC levels in the field is ‘impractical’ due to weather dependent fluctuations.
“If the government specified approved varieties, the agricultural sector could choose a few, as they do with wheat and barley, to account for Britain’s varying climates and adapt to climate change. Hemp is particularly resilient, so this development is quite promising for seed distributors who now have more suitable options,” he continued.
Further benefits for the hemp industry
Aside from expanding the number of seeds that can be legally grown in the UK, this move could have far more significant implications for hemp regulation in the UK.
Firstly, this provides a solid scientifically-based foundation on which to build a case for amending the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which continues to dog industrial hemp and cannabis farmers throughout the UK.
Lawyers, insurers, and banks remain unable to provide services due to POCA, meaning the path for investment capital to enter the market remains severely restricted.
Mr Morland, who was key to seeing POCA amended in the Isle of Wight and has long suggested this could serve as a workable model for the UK, believes this recommendation could help shift the dial.
“It’s the first time there’s been a properly thought out, smart evidence number that works for the industry and works for the consumer and works for the jobs and works for the tax, so we’re really excited about it.
“With proceeds of crime regulations covering psychoactive substances without a clear definition, this upcoming 0.3% threshold is our first workable definition. Right now, businesses can’t reliably access banking, legal services, or engineering support.
“Adopting this practical 0.3% standard in discussions with the Home Office, DEFRA, and other agencies is essential. This provides a foundation for industry to begin in earnest, giving businesses a clear standard to build upon and drive forward.”
