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While some start-ups advertise their CBD mouth sprays or bath balls on TV and sell them in drugstores, those who sell CBD flowers have recently faced major problems with the judiciary.

Now the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has surprisingly ruled: The sale of CBD flowers to end customers can be legal - but only if it is ensured that no one gets intoxicated.

The companies concerned are happy.

"This is very positive news for us," says Tim Schneider, co-founder of the CBD start-up Bunte Bloom.

The company sells CBD flowers, mainly at kiosks and Spätis.

Schneider and his co-founders were therefore charged with gang-related drug trafficking last year.

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If convicted, they face at least five years' imprisonment, but the trial has not yet started.

The company and its lawyer had hoped that the BGH judgment would send a positive signal for their indictment.

We didn't expect such positive news, says Schneider.

Tea made from EU-certified industrial hemp

Specifically, the hearing before the Federal Court of Justice was about a case from Braunschweig.

The two defendants had sold loose tea made from EU-certified industrial hemp in their shops.

The Braunschweig Regional Court therefore sentenced her to several months' imprisonment on probation for dealing in narcotics in January 2020.

Because an expert had determined that the buyer can very well get intoxicated with it - namely if he does not pour water on the tea, but uses it as a baking ingredient.

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According to the Narcotics Act, cannabis from the EU may exceptionally be sold if it "serves exclusively commercial or scientific purposes that exclude abuse for intoxicating purposes".

The district court had said that the sale "to end customers for consumption purposes" was prohibited in principle.

According to the BGH, this is not the case.

"However, abuse of the cannabis product for intoxication must be ruled out."

The 6th Criminal Senate, based in Leipzig, partially overturned the Braunschweig judgment.

The regional court found that the tea in question could not be ruled out improperly.

However, it did not check whether the defendants had intended it.

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To their disadvantage, the fact that the police had already searched the shops once.

It should therefore have been clear to them that they might be committing a criminal offense.

This also applies to the Berlin bloom.

Since they started selling the CBD flowers in 2018, the police have been at their door several times.

Nevertheless, co-founder Tim Schneider hopes that the verdict will lead to a new discussion - about whether you can get intoxicated with CBD or not.

Association calls for new legislation for industrial hemp

That makes little sense from an economic point of view alone, says Jürgen Neumeyer, Managing Director of the Cannabis Industry Association: “To achieve the minimum dose of a normal joint, I would have to smoke 40 CBD joints.

I don't know who would want to do that to themselves. ”Although he is a heavy chain smoker, that is too much even for him.

While the start-ups are happy about the BGH ruling, Neumeyer is more cautious: Despite the ruling, there will be regulations through the Narcotics Act "which will continue to make it difficult to make extensive use of the potential of hemp here in Germany".

Other countries such as Switzerland or Austria are way ahead of the Federal Republic in this regard.

The industry association is therefore calling for industrial hemp to be removed from the Narcotics Act.