Introduction

Over the last couple of years, the cannabis market in Poland is on a definitive rise. With laws permitting the use of medical marihuana, cannabis with high CBD content also started becoming more and more popular. Aside from special cannabis stores, products containing CBD started to appear in a higher verity in popular stores. Cannabis and it’s extracts started appearing in the cosmetic, clothing or drink industry at a much higher rate than before.

The year 2022 also brings big changes in cannabis laws in our country. Up to now, if a product was permitted for sale in Poland, the THC content could not exceed 0,2%. It’s a low and harsh amount, causing boundaries for many aspects of this industry – starting from farmers and ending all the way on common consumers or patients.

The proposed law would rise the percentage of permittable THC from 0,2% to 0,3%. This seemiTHC ngly small edit brings many positive changes. We will try to investigate the upcoming, good changes in this blog.

THC content rise – Life will get easier for farmers and cannabis companies

During the growing period, the content of CBD is strictly connected to the content of THC. Manipulating or regulating one of them will have an impact on the other and vice versa. In practice, the limit of 0,2% THC impacted the content of CBD that the growers could maximally produce. Following the law, the plant could maximally reach up to 5% – 6% of natural CBD (without artificial additives). The low limits could sometimes cause problems for the farmers. There are instances, where legal action was taken against a farmer, whose plants slightly exceeded the 0,2% threshold.

Another good reason is the increase of options. Rising the limit by just 0,1%, in practice means that the market will get a substantial increase in the strains available. Past regulations (due to their limits being so low), meant that everybody involved in growing and transforming cannabis into products only had a couple of “families” or strains of cannabis available to them (the ones fitting into the restrictions). Raising the limit will impact the market in a positive way, by introducing a wider variety, and allowing cannabis companies to experiment and crossbreed between new plant types.

A wider variety also impacts the import of cannabis from other countries. Many countries have a limit of THC set higher than the one currently applied in Poland. Due to this, cannabis imported from abroad often had to undergo chemical treatments. This process allows to artificially lower the THC content. Thanks to the proposed changes, a higher range of options will also be available from abroad – resulting in more variety and benefiting both cannabis companies and customers alike.

THC content rise – Life will get easier for customers

The consumer will also notice a difference after the proposed changes. The heightened content of THC will in no way trigger any psychoactive effects while consuming CBD flowers. The consumer doesn’t need to worry about any psychoactive effects present with traditional marihuana with a higher THC percentage. The content will still be much too low to feel any unwanted effects.

The only change will be a much higher variety and availability of products offered on the market. There will be more strains available, and thanks to this, the consumer will be able to pick a smell, taste and terpene profile that perfectly fits their individual needs.

THC content rise – Conclusion

The proposed changes in the cannabis laws is an obvious step in a good direction. The cannabis market in Poland is on a rise, and gets bigger and bigger every year, with new products being introduced all the time. An important element is the normalization of cannabis in the eyes of a wider community. Cannabis is becoming less of a taboo subject that interests only a narrow part of the society. It’s starting to reach to more and more people, and transfer from specialized stores to the shelves of mainstream and widely popular chains.

The changes are a sign that our cannabis laws are changing for the better. Rising the maximal content of THC from 0,2% to 0,3% is a first step, and an opening for the further growth of the industry. It’s also a precedent, on which many future laws normalising and regulating cannabis use (both medical and recreational) in Poland can be built upon in the upcoming years.