What does the law say about buying and selling CBD in the UK?

June 5, 2023


A quick Google search will show you that CBD really is making waves in the world of health and wellness in ways few could have predicted just a few short years ago. With everything in the world of CBD seemingly just a click away online, what do you really need to know to make sure you pick the right option?

Granted, we want you to choose our Londonderry CBD brand, but that doesn’t mean we want you to do so at the expense of the big picture view. There’s so many different brands and blends out there that it can be hard to know what to look for. Our goal here is to show you how to find a trusted seller by talking you through the legal side of things in the world of CBD. 

The Legal Side of CBD: Separating CBD from Cannabis

The first thing to say is that the old cannabis legalised or not debate can be put to one side when we’re tackling this issue. CBD may be derived from the cannabis plant but that doesn’t mean it’s the same substance. If you put the fact that cannabis is still illegal in the UK to the side and instead focus on the fact that CBD is legal, you start to make progress. 

The Lack of Independent Regulation: The Challenge for Consumers

But just because it’s legal, is that the end of the story? Can you really trust every name brand and private seller out there who claims to be able to change the way you feel with a natural substance like CBD? Sadly not, which makes the fact that there isn’t currently an independent regulator watching over the CBD market a little tricky for consumers. 

You want to be able to sleep with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re only putting things into your 

body that does exactly what you want. On the other hand, you don’t want to have to guess which brands are trustworthy with little more to go on than online reviews, many of which can easily be bought these days in the various grey areas that exist on online marketplaces. What we want to do now is figure out what you still need to be weary of even though the current cannabis legalisation doesn’t make CBD illegal. 

Ensuring Quality and Purity: The Importance of Trusted Sellers

There isn’t an independent qualification or certification that you need to be able to achieve to sell CBD online. While selling cannabis online is illegal, seemingly anyone can sell CBD online. This is perhaps a little odd when you compare this turn of events to how hard it is to get a cannabis prescription UK a doctor is prepared to sign and chemists will dispense to you. This means that anyone, with no real knowledge of what they’re doing, can sell something that may do more harm than good while dressing it up as a health and wellness silver bullet. 

While we certainly don’t want to speak ill of anyone and suggest they will deliberately sell something that causes harm, a lack of knowledge and care will often lead to the same end result. This means that if you’re not careful, the relatively low levels to entry in the CBD space will prove to be a stumbling block that means you simply cannot give your body what it needs. 

The issue here is that if you come to rely on something that doesn’t actually deliver, other areas of your health and wellness will inevitably suffer. This means that when you take the time to research and find other supplements, you’ll be fighting a losing battle because you won’t be starting out on a level playing field. No amount of reading about cannabis UK legalisation, or trying to figure out when cannabis will be legal in the UK, will allow you to get around this problem. 

Think that you can sidestep the issue simply by smoking cannabis instead? The issue here is that because you’re smoking something that’s not regulated for quality and purity, you are right back in the same situation. Something that’s far from ideal if you want to be able to take the steps that ensure your health and wellness is on the right footing. 

Another temptation is to go for the highest selling CBD supplement you’ll find online. While we never want to cast shade on other brands, you need to make sure that they’re still providing a pure solution. Sloppy approaches to quality control and a lack of independent third party testing will quickly lead to an inconsistent product. This means that no two orders will perform the same way, causing your body a whole host of issues when you want to get yourself balanced and in a state of calm. 

Next up, we need to address the fact that anyone can buy CBD online and the potential issues this may cause. Most importantly, you might find that a loved one or friend tries to help you with mental health or pain management by giving you some CBD they found online. A lot of the time this will have come to mind when they saw an eye-catching ad on social media — not always the best place to look when you want sustainable long-term solutions that allow you to live your best life. 

What we want to do instead is build an authoritative, educated brand and library of resources that allow you to see the finer details of what our Londonderry CBD brand is providing. By investing heavily in independent third party testing, we’re passionate about changing the game when it comes to the efficacy and purity of our products. And more than that, we’re able to offer completely individual testing results on an order by order basis. This allows you to see the exact results for the specific item you have in your hand, all while you get to enjoy the benefits with true peace of mind. 

While there’s nothing stopping anyone from selling CBD online, you only have to look at many of the other brands out there to see that many people don’t go this far. That’s not to say they won’t improve over time, or perhaps they don’t have the resources to make it happen right now; but should you really have to take the risk when we’re talking about what you put into your body?

The vast majority of people selling CBD are doing so for the right reasons because they want to build sustainable businesses that make a difference to the world. The issue, as with any new market, is it attracts a number of people who are low resourced or who have low levels of understanding of the specifics. This inevitably leads to corners being cut, standards slipping and the quality of the product is what suffers. And more than that, what ultimately suffers is you — you’re simply not getting the full range of natural goodness that the label promises.  To make sure you take the time to get things right, rather than feeling like you have to rush into a decision, why not take a look at the rest of our blog. If nothing else, it’ll equip you with all the information you need to make an informed decision about what to take and who to trust.



Back to Blog