Is Hemp Oil Legal in Australia?
Sharon Givoni Consulting Intellectual Property
Very recently we were asked the question whether or not the sale of hemp oil is legal in Australia by a client. Seemingly he had noticed a particular business claiming to be doing so legally and wished to know how. During our research, it became increasingly clear that this question still seems to cause much confusion online with many articles claiming it was and some claiming it wasn’t.
So is Hemp Oil legal?
No it is not. The sale of Hemp Oil in Australia is illegal. Whether or not a company claims to be selling it legally or another website claims it to be so, as of the time of writing this article the law prohibits the sale of Hemp Oil.
The Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (‘The Act’) implements the manufacturing obligations of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 (the Single Convention), to which Australia is a signatory.
Under the Single Convention an extract of cannabis is a drug; therefore by definition ‘hemp oil’ is also a drug and is subject to the manufacturing obligations under the Single Convention.
All cultivation of cannabis is controlled under the Single Convention, and under the Act, except for cannabis cultivated exclusively for fibre and seed.
The Australian Government has not changed the classification of hemp oil. Even if the oil had below import levels of THC or CBD for Hemp Seed Oil (which is legal if it meets certain requirements) it would not matter. The Single Convention and Australian law are silent on the levels of THC in cannabis extracts. All extracts of cannabis are drugs, regardless of specific cannabinoid levels. This classifies Hemp Oil as a drug.
Further, Hemp oil that is a medicinal cannabis product may only be accessed by prescription from your doctor who has been granted Special Access Scheme Approval or is an Authorised Prescriber.
The Special Access Scheme (SAS) refers to arrangements that provide for the import and/or supply of an unapproved therapeutic good for a single patient, on a case by case basis.
The Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2016 Measures No.1) Act 2017 (the Amendment Act) amended the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (the Act) to enable health practitioners to supply certain unapproved therapeutic goods – principally those with an established history of use in similar overseas countries or in Australia through the existing provisions to access unapproved therapeutic goods – to their patients by way of notification to the TGA, rather than (as previously) requiring pre-approval.
This means Hemp Oil is not able to access as a commercial good. In many cases, companies selling hemp oil online or in stores are not actually selling hemp oil but rather have mislabelled hemp seed oil.
Simply put, hemp oil or any product that does not derive from hemp seed is not legal to sell in Australia.
If you have any questions regarding hemp oil, hemp seed oil or other marijuana-related questions please do not hesitate to contact us at Sharon Givoni Consulting.
For more information also visit the website for the Office of Drug Control Australia.