When it comes to cannabis laws and regulations surrounding CBD in the UK, things are quite complicated and confusing for people outside of Britain.
That’s why, in March 2023, we sat down with Katya Kowalski, an English cannabis policy expert who works at Volteface, to catch up on the latest developments and get an explanation of the current rules.
Expert interview: the cannabis policy landscape in the UK, with Katya Kowalski
Is CBD legal in the UK and, if so, in what forms and under what laws? What is the legal THC limit for CBD flower and products?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is completely legal in the UK. Under the law, it can be bought, sold and used in the UK, provided that these products, in the case of ingestible products, contain no more than 1 mg of THC per container and are made from industrial hemp approved under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
CBD is sold in lots of different forms, and is mostly found in health and wellbeing shops such as Holland & Barrett, Superdrug and Boots. You’ll find CBD in almost every format, including CBD oil, tablets, tinctures and CBD skincare products. However, for the time being, the sale of CBD flower is not legal in the UK.
What about the status of cannabidiol on the novel foods list?
In the UK, CBD products have been classified as novel foods since January 2019. This means these products require authorisation from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) before they can be legally sold in the UK.
Manufacturers, trade bodies or suppliers can apply for authorisation to sell CBD products using the novel food application process, which goes through the stages of validation, risk assessment and an authorisation decision.
The FSA assesses each application on a case-by-case basis. Once a product has been authorised, the authorisation applies only to that product and its specific production methods, uses and evidence base. The reason for this process was to end the lack of regulation in the market and make sure that only authorised products could be sold, which has limited the number of cannabidiol products on the market. To date (October 2026), the FSA has not yet authorised any CBD products; in the meantime, the products on sale are those on its public list of products whose authorisation applications are still in progress.
Is CBD produced domestically in the UK?
Despite the existence of a fully legal CBD industry in the UK, domestic production is hampered by outdated restrictions imposed on the UK hemp industry. Outdated laws prevent British hemp growers from processing and extracting CBD from the plant’s leaves and flowers. They only allow the seeds and stems to be used, unnecessarily wasting the most valuable part of the crop and limiting domestic CBD extraction, making the UK dependent on imports. You can read more about this topic in Volteface’s Pleasant Lands report.
Are there many CBD shops in major UK cities?
CBD is widely sold and available in headshops and specialist shops across the UK. It’s quite hard to estimate how many shops there are in, say, London. CBD marketplaces such as Alphagreen have resources like this one showing where some of the shops in the capital are.
The products are also widely available in supermarket chains and health food shops such as Boots, Superdrug and Holland & Barrett, which no doubt do even more to normalise the use of the compound. Research also indicates that most consumers buy their CBD online.
Do you have any estimates on how many Britons use cannabis or CBD products?
According to a recent survey by the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry, around 20% of British adults have used CBD products. Overall, I’d say CBD products are well accepted in British society and have been embraced by the major high street retailers.
What is the UK’s policy on “recreational” cannabis in general, i.e. cannabis containing not only CBD but also THC?
Recreational cannabis use is prohibited in the UK. THC is only permitted in products for medical use, prescribed by a doctor. Cannabis is classed as a Class B drug and is in Schedule 1; only cannabis-based products for medicinal use are in Schedule 2. Possession of cannabis without a prescription can lead to up to 5 years in prison.
What is the prevalence of THC-rich cannabis use?
Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 16% of young adults (aged 16 to 24) used the drug in the last year, as did 7.4% of adults. Overall, however, levels are much lower than they were 30 years ago.
Is medical cannabis legal in the UK? How does it look on paper, and how does it look in practice?
Medical cannabis was legalised in the UK in 2018, following high-profile cases of children with epilepsy. Despite a change on paper, not much has changed in practice. The vast majority of medical cannabis prescriptions have been issued privately. There are several barriers within the current UK system that limit the success and the number of patients accessing legal treatment. Some 84% of the British public don’t know that medical cannabis is legal, and many believe that CBD and medical cannabis are the same thing.
While there are around 20,000 legal patients with a prescription, surveys suggest that there are 1.8 million patients in the UK self-medicating illicitly, which shows that the legal system isn’t working for most patients. One reason is that medical cannabis is only available through private clinics and via the specialist register, which makes getting a prescription quite difficult. My recent research has shown that there is a great deal of stigma within the medical community, which means many doctors don’t feel comfortable or confident prescribing cannabis.
Can I get medical cannabis, for example, for anxiety in the UK?
Yes, you can! There are around 20 specialist clinics in the UK, along with private specialist doctors who prescribe independently through tools such as the Cannabis Directory or tools such as Script Assist.
The list of conditions for which cannabis can be prescribed is quite long, although the likelihood of getting a prescription depends on the level of evidence and the doctor’s willingness. Here is a list of conditions for which cannabis can be prescribed in the UK, including anxiety.
Are there any trends we should be aware of? Is the UK going to legalise and regulate cannabis, or should we expect a move in the other direction?
I wouldn’t say we should expect a move in the opposite direction, with more repression, but the current political climate in the UK is not conducive to reform. Public support for legalisation keeps growing. However, the chaotic nature of British politics in recent years has made it incredibly difficult to address this issue in a positive way.
The Conservatives (and Labour) are still holding firm to their tough-on-drugs, tough-on-crime rhetoric, despite the progressive policies coming through for drug treatment, so a health-focused approach is slowly starting to be taken. But there is still a lot of work to be done before we see progressive attitudes towards recreational cannabis use in government. Volteface recently made a video looking at this issue in detail.
About Katya Kowalski
Katya Kowalski is a drug policy expert with extensive experience in research, policy and external engagement. She is Head of Operations at Volteface, the UK’s leading drug policy think tank. With a background in psychology, she is very interested in the complex relationship between drug use and mental health.
Katya’s recent work has focused on understanding the barriers in the UK medical cannabis system. Her latest Volteface report, “Known Unknowns”, examines the clinical limitations around prescribing.
She has also submitted evidence to the Home Office on how best to divert existing patients into the legal market.
About Volteface
Volteface is a London-based advocacy and communications organisation whose goal is to reduce the harm that drugs cause to individuals and society by advocating for evidence-based policy reform. We are one of the most established drug policy content platforms in Europe, with a global reach.
* Interview adapted from the original article by Cannactiva.
