Last week saw the launch of a ground-breaking new industry body to foster a legally compliant, socially responsible and innovative cannabinoid industry.
The launch highlighted that the lack of regulation in the UK is currently a huge barrier to trust in the cannabis industry.
The CBD regulation body, the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), was launched at the inaugural Centre for Medicinal Cannabis conference on Friday, where key players in the cannabis industry came together to be introduced to the seven pillars of the ACI Quality Charter and to hear from numerous experts in the field.
Key speakers included Greer Deal and Dr Sarah Gaunt, Global Regulatory Services, Dr Parveen Bhatarah, Regulatory and Compliance Lead, Centre for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC) and Steve Moore, Strategic Counsel, CMC.
Topics discussed included the future of analytical testing for a safe cannabinoid industry and novel foods authorisation, followed by a panel discussion chaired by Dr Andy Yates, Pharmacy Lead, Centre for Medicinal Cannabis.
Trust in the cannabis industry
During the event, results from a new YouGov poll were revealed which showed that consumers consider lack of regulation a huge barrier to trusting cannabis products they buy:
- 62% of UK adults are aware of cannabidiol (CBD) based products;
- Over one in ten (16%) had bought a CBD based product;
- However, 45% of those surveyed said they were not confident that all CBD products are labelled with the correct information and are properly tested by a regulatory authority; and
- 48% of people in the UK said they would be more likely to try CBD products if they could be certain that they had been produced to tight regulatory standards.
Speaking at the meeting held at The Foundry conference space in London, Steve Moore, Strategic Counsel, CMC said: “The CBD sector is an extraordinary story of a new industry in massive growth. However, we are now facing a moment of reckoning and we need to fully embrace regulation.
“The new YouGov poll clearly shows that consumers are looking to us for reassurance on quality above all else – half the population is not looking at CBD products because they don’t trust them. If we work together as an industry, we should be aiming to get that down to 25%.”
Unfortunately they haven’t a clue what they are doing hence why bringing in advisers on topics they should be knowledgeable about if looking at regulation, but when it’s Canadian paymasters issue out orders you carry them out with an abundance of cash at its disposal.and it’s all for nothing tic tock : )