The use of CBD oil in Dublin Ireland is not something new. That’s because we had high-profile campaigns in the past such as Vera Twomey’s, Noreen O’Neil, and Brendan Flynn that emphasized cannabis-based medical products.
CBD oil products as food supplements have been legalized and you can find them in health food and specialized stores across Dublin, Ireland.
While it is easy for people to access CBD oil in Ireland, for example Dr. Hemp me, a lot of confusion and doubts exist about their legality and doctors also debate about their effectiveness. What’s more, the lack of oversight on the CBD makes people have doubts about it.
CBD comes from hemp plants and it doesn’t have the psychoactive elements associated with “mental high”. While a lot of claims exist about its therapeutic benefits, it’s just a matter of time before the whole world embraces it. Let’s get started from the base.
What is CBD?
CBD is a chemical compound found on cannabis plants collectively called cannabidiol (CBD). This is a natural organic non-psychoactive cannabinoid compound that is showing promising results when used.
The compound gained recognition in Dublin during the Vera Twomey campaign that fought for the medicine of her daughter Ava.
What are hemp oils and CBD oils?
Lots of products such as hemp oil, hemp seed oil, and cannabidiol oil, came into the Irish market. These products come from a hemp plant called Cannabis sativa. In the market, we call them food supplements or dietary supplements.
The Oil is obtained from the plant by cold-pressing the seeds. This oil has a low level of CBD, a non-psychoactive compound. Another method of extraction is the chemical extraction process. Irish manufacturers use this method when they want to manufacture only high CBD content.
It is true that CBD is legal in Dublin and may help patients achieve their optimal health, doctors cannot legally prescribe the drug. The reason is, the drug isn’t authorized to be used as a medicinal product by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA). It is the same situation that is happening in the United States where the FDA allowed the use of CBD to help kids with epilepsy but not other conditions although it is legally allowed.
New England Journal of Medicine did a clinical trial and found that the kids who used the drug had 40% fewer seizures per month. 120 kids were used during the trial and all of them were suffering from Dravet Syndrome (the exact condition Ava Twomey’s daughter had).
Is It Legal to Grow Hemp?
If you are in Ireland you can grow a hemp plant but you need to get the licence from the Department of Health. Since they are different varieties of hemp plant not all of them are allowed to be grown. The only varieties that are permitted and listed in the EU’s Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species. These varieties have THC content which is less than 0.2%(Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013).
Is CBD Oil Legal in Ireland?
Well is it legal to sell or buy CBD oil in Ireland? We have the answer. If you want to buy or sell CBD, you have to ensure that the product is granted the status of medicine. Unfortunately, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has never considered cannabis a medicinal product.
And this makes it a challenge to sell any CBD product. As of 2017, Ireland’s laws changed to allow the use of CBD in the country. That said, the only type of cannabis that is legal in Ireland is the one used as flavoring agents or food supplements. The reason it became legal as a food supplement is because it derived from the hemp plant.
As of today, the use of cannabis and cannabinoids remains to be a grey area because of the novel food authorisation issue lobbied in the EU commission by the Cannabis Trade Association. But the good news is pharmacies and stores in Dublin sell CBD products which have less than 0.2% of THC.
0.2% THC is recommended. Anything more than can have a negative effect on your body. The Irish law also recommends that CBD products sold should have 0.2% THC content or less. So that the oil and products to be used in Ireland, they must meet HPRA and EU standards before they go to the market.
Before you invest in buying any CBD oil in Dublin, you need to know the difference between isolates and full-spectrum CBD so you buy the right product. If you need a pure CBD, you will have to buy an CBD isolate.
A CBD isolate is one way the oil, chlorophyll, wax, and other ingredients have been removed from the hemp plant. The only thing left is a pure powder which is called CBD isolate. A full-spectrum CBD is where the waxes, chlorophyll, oil, and all other cannabinoid elements are retained in the hemp plant. With this type of CBD, the THC level is o.2%.
Research states that hemp plant’s other ingredients improve the overall health benefits that come with CBD. In other words, taking a full-spectrum CBD oil offers lots of benefits to patients. The other ingredients together with CBD provide lots of minerals, vitamins, terpenes, compounds, and fatty acids into the body. That said, people who take a full-spectrum see results much faster.
Since Ireland has strict rules in the use of CBD oil, you will have to use CBD isolates. But that does not mean that it is less beneficial. In fact, if you use the isolate, you will reap the same benefits as the full-spectrum CBD.
