People Before Profit have expressed their support for Little Collins CBD Dispensary in Galway that was raided by plain clothes gardaí last month.
Little Collins CBD Dispensary on Abbeygate Street was raided by plain clothes gardaí in May who confiscated €10,000 worth of plant products containing tea and hemp with CBD.
This was one incident in a larger crackdown on businesses around Ireland that sell products with Cannabidiol by gardaí and customs.
PBP has said that the “contradictory” laws surrounding CBD products in Ireland are leading to situations where businesses like Little Collins dispensary are being “harassed by the authorities and losing out on thousands of euro worth of stock and business.”
Under EU law plant products containing CBD mat be legally grown and sold so long at their THC content (the psychoactive element) is below 0.2 percent.
However the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 says that all products containing even trace elements of THC are illegal.
Little Collins has said that everything it sells is tested and checked to ensure that it falls below that 0.2% limit.
PBP Galway’s local area representative Joe Loughnane said it is time for a “realistic and sensible discussion” about the use of cannabis products “especially from a medicinal point of view”.
“The benefits of cannabis products are clearly helping sufferers of many chronic conditions such as epilepsy, cancer and even anxiety and depression.”
“By clumsily enforcing these archaic laws, the authorities of having a negative impact on these people and on small local businesses,” Loughnane said.
He added that the treatment of Little Collins Dispensary is “especially hypocritical” when the same CBD products are freely sold in large chain stores like Holland and Barrett.
“There are clear social and economic benefits to having more progressive laws around cannabis products, and the people of Galway should do the research and show their support for Little Collins”.
The Department of Health has said that it is intended to legalise the sale of products up to 0.3% CBD content.
People Before Profit have created a petition calling for a legislative amendment to bring Ireland in-line with current EU Regulation and WHO recommendations.
