Hemp under 1% THC is not prohibited and fully booming

A product with a THC content of 1% or more is an illegal narcotic. What is below that is not covered by NarcA. What does this area of non-prohibited hemp look like? Depending on what a product is marketed as, different laws apply.

What is advertised as a medicine requires a license under the Therapeutic Products Act. If the products are intended for consumption, the Food Act applies. Anyone wishing to market hemp seeds must comply with the Variety Ordinance or obtain a permit. There are also regulations for cosmetics, and there is also the Chemicals Law.

Since 2016, hemp flowers with a very low THC content but a high CBD content have increasingly appeared on the market. Cannabidiol (CBD) is so far relatively unregulated, it is not covered by NarcA, however, CBD as a pure substance is not a permissible active ingredient in the pharmaceutical sector.

At first, such blossoms were sold as raw materials, without any special intention of use. But then the customs administration came forward and declared such flowers as tobacco substitutes and demanded the tobacco tax due for them. Per kilogram, this costs 38 francs plus 25% of the retail price. Thus, if 1 kg of blossoms is sold for 6,000 francs, a tax burden of 1,538 francs follows.

Whoever wants to sell such products must register in a register of the Directorate General of Customs and agree to comply with the associated trade regulations (reverse obligation). These include, for example, the affixing of pictorial warnings as on cigarette packets. The products must be registered with the FOPH and various documents submitted.

Even if some hemp dealers want to challenge this classification, most seem to have come to terms with these requirements. Because so it is clear as what the products are sold. So now millions francs flow into the tax coffers.

The attitude of the Directorate General of Customs can be found in the “Leaflet on the tobacco tax liability of cannabis products with a THC content of less than 1%” of 20.2.17.

Swissmedic and the Federal Offices of Public Health, Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs and Agriculture have jointly published a guide: “Products containing cannabidiol (CBD), overview and enforcement assistance” of 27.2.17.

In February 2017, IG Hemp was founded (see list of companies) to represent hemp traders vis-à-vis the authorities.

But if a police or public prosecutor suspects that a hemp product might contain 1% THC, they are still allowed to open criminal proceedings. Especially with CBD flowers: They look just like illegal hemp. Only a measurement in the laboratory can then provide clarity. Thus, there are also with the consumers again and again reprimands or fixed penalties because of taxed, legal weed - only after an appeal is remeasured and a penalty is waived.