Hong Kong Illegalizes CBD, Offenders Face Possible Jail Time

On the heels of China’s controversial crackdowns on video games and the ongoing suppression of free speech is a new restriction localized to Hong Kong at the moment, and the target is CBD.

According to a report by the Hong Kong Free Press published today (Fri Oct 21), Hong Kong is going to fully ban cannabidiol, effectively adding the hemp-born compound to “a criminalized list of drugs including heroin and cocaine.”

The list in mention is referred to by the government as the “Dangerous Drugs Ordinance,” which also contains fentanyl, methamphetamine, and roughly 200 other outlawed substances.

The government announced this week that the legislation will be presented to the Legislative Council next Wednesday; the CBD ban is to be officially enacted in February of next year.

Similar to the claims of some anti-hemp state legislatures in the USA, Hong Kong officials are justifying the ban by claiming that CBD is “inseparable from tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,” per the Hong Kong Free Press report.

Violators of the new legislation, once it is enacted, will be punishable with a maximum fine of $5 million Hong Kong Dollars (about $637,000 USD) and life in prison.

Normally, we call on our own audience, highly active advocacy organizations like the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, and their supporters to fight against such restrictive policies.

However, given the clear jurisdictional issues at play and the scope of the problem, we can only encourage you all to continue raising the volume in support of the wellness-affirming compound in hopes that measures like these will become less common throughout the world.